THE  LIBRARIES 


William  Plumer  Jacobs 


'^9-U/X^ 


The  Life  of 
William  Plumer  Jacobs 


By 

THORNWELL  JACOBS,  A.  M.,  LL.D., 

President  of  Oglethorpe  University, 

Author  of"  The  Law  of  the  White  Circle,''  "Sinful  Sadday,' 

"The  Midnight  Mummer,"  "The  Oglethorpe 

Story,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming'  H^  RfeveH'  Company 

London,   ,  , ,  and   -,  .  ^,Dii^.BiJROH 


Copyright,  191 8,  by 
THORNWELL  JACOBS 


/J.^ 


o^»?  73y^- 


Printed  in  the  United  States  cf  America 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Ghicagx>>  ;i7.Nortb  Wabash,  Ave. 
l.(!indor^:;  ii;  ^aiernesjer'; 'Square 
EdJn'bui'gh:    *  7$' '  Prince^  '  Street 


Preface 

THE  value  of  a  human  life  to  his  fellows  and, 
therefore,  of  any  biography  to  a  library  con- 
sists not  in  the  name  of  the  subject,  nor  in 
that  of  the  town  in  which  he  lived.  Neither  do  the 
names  of  his  loved  ones  nor  their  number  avail,  nor  his 
length  of  years  with  their  praises  and  honours,  to  make 
the  record  of  his  days  valuable.  But  if  to  these  things 
which  he  holds  in  common  Avith  other  men  be  added 
some  new  quality  of  struggle,  some  new  fineness  of 
sentiment,  some  new  cleverness  of  thought ;  or  if  per- 
chance there  was  discovered  in  his  career  an  old  truth, 
and  one  almost  forgotten,  to  be  set  aglow  with  a  mar- 
vellous light,  then,  ere  he  has  walked  to  the  end  of  his 
lonely  path— for  it  is  always  lonely— men  are  following 
in  the  glow  of  his  torch  and  when  his  career  is  done 
the  very  glory  of  God  is  seen  to  illumine  his  footway. 
That  is  why  the  details  of  a  man's  life  are  usually 
uninteresting  and  the  one  thing  he  thought  or  felt  or 
did  fascinates.  The  details  of  Eobert  Fulton's  days 
or  the  grandparents  of  Abraham  Lincoln  are  only  so 
much  chaff  swept  aside  by  the  wind  of  human  thought 
seeking  the  kernel  of  their  life-discoveries.  So  it  is 
ever. 

A  man  must  be  just  like  his  fellows  to  be  of  any 
value  to  them. 

5 


6  PREFACE 

A  man  must  be  entirely  unlike  his  fellows  to  be  of 
any  value  to  them. 

Like  in  dream  and  struggle  and  hope ;  unlike  in 
that  one  difference  the  possession  of  which  so  dif- 
ferentiates him  from  others  as  to  win  from  them  the 
term  "  Great." 

As  if  once  to  each  generation,  that  none  may  be 
without  witness,  such  men  come,  learn  and  teach  their 
lesson,  and  go.  The  world,  their  friends  and  relatives 
later — for  they  usually  learn  it  last — note  that  some- 
thing unusual  is  happening,  and  after  the  inevitable 
period  of  ridicule  and  mockery  and  opposition,  with 
their  weapons  of  misrepresentation  and  evil  speaking 
and  jealousy,  they  render  their  words  of  generous 
praise. 

It  was  so  with  this  man  as  with  all  the  other  Great. 

'Now  that  it  is  all  over,  the  secret  of  his  life  stands 
revealed.  It  is  an  old  secret  and  very  wonderful. 
From  the  beginning  of  time  that  which  felt  its  power 
has  glowed  with  a  brightness  so  strangely  beautiful 
that  even  a  Moses  must  turn  aside  to  see.  For  the  life 
of  this  man  can  be  summed  up,  with  all  the  Apostles 
among  the  Dead,  in  the  single  word— God.  With  it 
was  coupled  unselfishness,  and  dreams,  and  common 
sense.  When  he  was  gone  it  was  seen  that  a  romantic 
halo  had  gathered  about  Riverside  and  the  Enoree 
and  the  Orphanage  and  over  the  whole  little  town  of 
Clinton  as  if  the  pillars  of  fire  and  cloud  that  had  led 
him  so  long  would  remain  yet  a  little  while  over  the 
spot  he  loved  so  well. 

But,  after  all,  these — his  orphans  and  college  and 
village  and  river,  his  honours  and  his  family— all  these 
were  but  incidental  to  the  great  purpose  of  his  life 


PREFACE  7 

which  was  to  show  that  the  Power  is  conscious  of  us 
and  that  we  may  be  conscious  of  Him. 

This  is  the  Great  Discovery — it  is  the  biggest  fact  in 
our  Universe. 

It  is  worth  writing  a  book  to  illustrate  it  again. 

T.  J. 
Oglethorpe  University^ 
Atlanttty  Georgia. 


Contents 

I. 

At  Sixteen 

.       13 

IL 

Choosing  the  Goal 

20 

III. 

Voices  from  the  Deep    . 

.       30 

IV. 

Homeward  from  Home  . 

.      40 

V. 

The  Way  to  Bethany     . 

.      52 

VI. 

Putting  on  the  Armour 

.      62 

VII 

In  the  Upper  Room 

.      69 

VIII. 

"  My  Mary  "    . 

.      76 

IX. 

The  Midnight  Watch    . 

.      82 

X. 

The  Day  of  Small  Things     . 

.      97 

XI. 

In  My  Name   .        .        .        • 

.       1X2 

XII. 

The  Working  Model     . 

.       126 

XIII. 

The  Rod  of  Hermes 

.       138 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

For  that  Future  . 
'«  For  Thy  Sake"    . 
Noonday         .        .        •        • 

.       148 

.       160 

.            .       167 

XVII. 

The  Soul  of  a  Soldier 

.       178 

XVIII. 

Building  the  New  Church     . 

.       195 

XIX. 

In  the  Later  Years     . 

.      200 
0 

XX. 

Moving  His  College 

.      2X8 

XXI. 

Giving  Up  the  Church  . 

.   225 

XXII. 

The  Battle  with  Death 

.   235 

XXIII. 

The  Soul  of  a  School   . 

.   253 

XXIV. 

Life  and  Leaves     . 

.    260 

XXV. 

His  Successor 

.   270 

Illustrations 

opposite  page 


William  P.  Jacobs 

Mary  Dillard  Jacobs  .         .         .         •         • 

The  First  Building  of  the  Thornwell  Orphanage 

"  Home  "  for  Thirty-Six  Years 

Memorial  Hall  ...•••• 

William  P.  Jacobs  at  Various  Ages     . 

Buildings  of  the  College  and  Church 

The    Latest    Photograph,  Taken    in  Atlanta    at    the 
Home  of  His  Youngest  Son  • 


Title 
80 
120 
152 
170 
212 
220 

250 


11 


AT  SIXTEEN 

Ah,  Lord,  how  little  do  we  men,  below, 

Yet  understand  from  whence  Thy  footsteps  tread ! 

Of  all  the  millioned  words  that  men  have  said 
What  one  reveals  the  whither  Thou  dost  go  ? 

WE  lift  the  veil  of  the  past  and  there  appears 
a  little  boy  in  a  great  city.  He  is  five 
feet  and  three  inches  in  height ;  he  weighs 
ninety-three  pounds,  and  is  in  the  Fresh- Sophomore 
year  at  college.  It  is  his  sixteenth  birthday  and  his 
brother  Eipley  has  broken  his  spectacles  of  which  mis- 
fortune he  says,  ''  I  must  have  them  to-morrow." 

He  is  not  a  strong  lad,  complaining  often  of  colds 
and  sore-throat  and  of  sharp  touches  of  pain  in  his 
lungs ;  his  breast  hurts  him  so.  His  eyes  also  are  con- 
stantly troubling  him  and  as  he  peers  through  the 
glasses  which  he  always  wears  going  here  and  there 
about  the  city  his  friends  liken  him  to  a  dreamer— 
which  he  is. 

The  city  in  which  he  lived  is  one  of  whose  mother- 
hood any  youth  might  feel  proud.  It  was  of  her  that 
her  own  famous  son  Petigru  had  once  said  :  "  In  the 
circle  of  vision  from  St.  Michael's  there  has  been  as 
much  high  thought  spoken,  as  much  heroic  action 
taken,  and  as  much  patient  endurance  borne  as  in  any 
equal  area  of  land  on  this  continent."  The  oldest 
benevolent  society  in  America  was  hers,  St.  Andrews. 

13 


14    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

In  her  halls  the  first  drama  was  given  in  this  country. 
The  first  cotton  ever  shipped  from  America  was  from 
her  port.  She  claimed  to  have  built  the  first  long  rail- 
road in  the  world,  and  spoke  of  her  library  as  the  third 
oldest  in  America.  Her  name  was  Charleston  and  she 
ranked  among  the  important  cities  of  the  United 
States. 

And  the  boy  upon  whose  soul  the  Great  Sun  was 
rising  loved  the  city  and  thought  of  her  as  marvellous. 
He  found  in  her  the  things  wherein  his  heart  delighted. 
There  was  the  college  which  he  was  attending  with  its 
library  upon  whose  shelves  ten  thousand  volumes 
waited  to  welcome  him.  Many  were  the  happy  hours 
he  spent  there.  A  museum  was  hers  also  which  he 
was  constantly  describing  in  his  diary.  It  occupied 
the  whole  of  the  third  floor  and  the  collection  of  birds 
was  his  especial  delight.  In  his  Charleston  lived 
Mr.  Woodruff  who  loved  phonography,  "that  noble 
study  "  which  he  also  loved,  and  there  was  the  orphan 
home  of  which  he  took  note  that  provision  was  made 
for  a  college  education  for  those  who  were  far  ad- 
vanced and  it  was  located  in  a  building  which  he 
thought  of  as  large  and  beautiful. 

We  can  understand  the  temper  of  this  boy  of  sixteen 
the  better  by  noting  one  or  two  of  those  dominant 
traits  which  were  to  so  surely  determine  his  future. 
We  view  his  soul  in  the  mirror  of  his  diary.  He  was 
at  prayer-meeting  and  "  They  prayed  for  me  ! "  An- 
other night  was  rainy,  preventing  his  attending  his 
literary  society,  but  "  it  was  all  for  the  best,  for  that 
night  they  had  some  uproarious  mirth  which  would  ill 
have  suited  me."  Some  of  the  young  ladies  in  his 
father's  seminary  attended  a  dancing  school  in  th© 


AT  SIXTEEN 


15 


city,  it  being  his  task  to  escort  them  home  often.  Of 
this  he  writes — "  I  do  most  heartily  wish  that  nobody 
had  ever  heard  of  dancing." 

He  gets  his  college  report  and  notes  that  his  average 
is  eighty-nine,  better  than  last  year,  and  wonders 
whether  he  is  still  first  in  his  class.  Next  term  he  will 
do  better.  Miserly  of  time  he  finds  out  how  to  save  an 
hour  by  studying  an  hour  immediately  after  breakfast, 
thus  "  saving  myself  from  talking  nonsense  at  college." 
He  is  often  afraid  for  his  religious  life  but  promises 


%V^ASnw^^1^^^^:lJ^. 


His  own  representation  of  an  ante-bellum  Boarding  School, 
taught  by  the  author  of  "  Young  Marooners,"  which  he  ad- 
tended  near  Kingston,  Georgia,  when  a  boy,  before  entering 
Charleston  College.     From  the  first  volume  of  his  Diary. 


himself  to  perish  only  on  his  knees.  He  notes  that  few 
in  his  classes  like  him  because  he  is  punctilious  about 
studying  his  father's  wishes  and  the  rules  of  the  col- 
lege. Of  him  he  says,  *'I  have  a  good  kind  father,  I 
love  my  father."  One  day  that  father  gave  him  a  desk 
that  formerly  belonged  to  his  mother.  "  While  you 
were  here,  Mother,"  he  writes,  "  I  did  not  love  you  as  I 
ought  but  I  love  your  memory  and  will  ever  love  it." 
He  was  clean  of  mind  and  lip,  esteeming  profanity  to 
be  deprecated  above  all  things.  His  pets  were  the 
Chrestomathic  Society,  the  orphan  house,  the  college 


16    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

museum  and  library,  a  rare  coin,  the  noble  science  of 
phonography  and  prayer-meeting.  If  he  had  possessed 
Aladdin's  lamp  he  would  have  wanted  to  see  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa  and  America. 

And  he  wanted  everybody  to  love  God. 

There  was  something  both  strange  and  great  about 
the  tastes  of  this  youth.  He  was  fond  of  study,  rising 
often  at  five  in  the  morning  to  save  an  hour.  He  read 
Todd's  Student's  Manual,  which  pleased  him  well,  and 
was  particularly  fond  of  astronomy.  He  loved  libra- 
ries and  printing  as  his  fathers  before  him  had  done. 
"  I  studied  very  hard  to-day,"  he  writes  in  his  diary, 
"and  set  the  title  page  to  '  Notes  on  the  Bible.'  "  He 
liked  to  wander  through  the  museum  and  interpret  the 
stories  of  the  wonders  he  saw  there.  He  would  often 
get  his  lessons  early  and  go  in  at  "  Courtenay's  "  and 
"have  a  conversation  with  his  books,"  adding  in  his 
journal,  "  Oh,  I  do  love  books ! " 

These  were  some  of  his  tastes  but  his  deepest  taste 
was  for  God. 

"  Oh,  let  me  always  remember  this  night,"  he  wrote 
on  February  8,  1858.  "To-night  I  applied  for  ad- 
mission to  the  church  and  was  received  as  a  member. 
I  applied  the  26th  of  last  October  but  I  was  received 
only  as  a  seeker.  Thank  God  I  am  enabled  to  receive 
Him  to  my  heart.  O  that  Pressley  would  find  the  way 
I  have  !     Father  joined  just  at  my  age." 

All  that  he  ever  did  thereafter  was  foreshadowed  in 
that  entry.  For  his  soul  had  surrendered  itself  to  a 
belief  that  utterly  mastered  him.  "Let  infidels  say 
what  they  will  about  the  Infinite  Jehovah  mixing  in 
the  affairs  of  puny  mortals,  yet  I  feel  that  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  has  often  mingled  in  my  affairs.     He  has  brought 


AT  SIXTEEN  17 

me  through  many  difficulties  and  dangers  safe  in  body 
and  mind  and  has  answered  many  of  my  prayers." 

And  to  this  boy  of  sixteen  it  was  an  inevitable 
sequence  that  his  spirit  should  find  no  rest  save  in  the 
service  of  the  Power.  Little  by  little  the  idea  of  the 
ministry  takes  hold  upon  him.     He  called  it  a  delight- 


Oftiie  _  Books. 

•     1.  History 

GdQ«6!9»  6Xodnd«  Levtticas,  Dambeis,  doute 
HTODomy^  |<^haa»  judges*  rath^sajraoal  \i 
kiQgs ii»  c!uron»o{es it-    e^ra-  oebexaiAli- 


2»  Poetry* 

^ob-  psalffls.  proverbs*  ^ccteiisstes,  soIomo& 
60Qg,  lamootatiotts. 

S.  PropIieer« 

leaiab*  jetemiab*  esekiet,  datiiQf^  bos^a*  joo* 
amoa-  obadiab-  jooab,  micah-  o&bum*  bfibbs^ 
4piI^4^  reveiatlona^ 

4U€l&urclii   History* 
llaUb9w«  mark,  lake-  jobiu  sot^ 

A  page  from  his  first  book  "  Notes  on  the 
Bible,"  which  he  wrote,  printed  and  published 
when  about  sixteen  years  of  age. 

ful  occupation  and  longed  to  breast  the  waters  of  its 
flood.  In  February  it  was  a  thought,  in  November  it 
was  a  determination. 

He  seemed  himself  to  know  that  this  year  of  1858 
was  to  be  a  memorable  year  of  his  life.  In  it  he  heard 
the  famous  Everett  in  his  masterly  oration  on  Washing- 
ton and  wrote  it  down  as  the  second  great  day  of  the 


18    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

year.  Shortly  afterwards  he  heard  Mr.  Thornwell  lec- 
ture before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  thought  himself  unfit 
to  describe  his  ability.  In  September,  while  the  yellow 
fever  was  raging  in  the  city,  he  caught  sight  of  the 
Great  Comet  of  Donati,  discarding  his  spectacles  for  his 
father's  spy-glass  to  view  it  better  and  noting  its  im- 
mensity with  astonishment  at  the  handiwork  of  his 
maker. 

But  above  all  other  things,  it  was  in  this  3^ ear  that  he 
reached  out  his  arms  to  God. 

Not  content  with  surrendering  his  present,  he  would 
surrender  his  future.  He  was  ready  to  go  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  fulfilling  his  dream.  He  would 
give  both  soul  and  body.  "  Ordain  me,"  he  prayed, 
*'  to  go  and  preach  the  holy  and  eternal  gospel  to  Thy 
dying  heathen.     I  am  willing.  Lord,  if  Thou  art ! " 

And  so  this  unusual  lad  came  to  the  close  of  his  un- 
usual year,  yearning  to  taste  of  the  sweet  waters  of  life 
and  the  bitter.  We  see  him  a  deeply  religious  youth, 
weak  in  throat  and  lungs  and  eyes,  fond  of  libraries,  a 
lover  of  books  and  printing  and  languages,  disliking 
noise  and  dancing  schools,  preferring  to  dust  his  father's 
books,  constantly  calling  himself  lazy  and  sinful  but 
rising  at  five  in  the  morning  to  read  and  pray  and 
study,  lonely  among  his  fellow  students,  already  both- 
ered about  theology,  a  lover  of  Latin  and  Greek  and 
German  and  the  "  noble  science  of  Phonography," 
fond  of  stars  "and  ancient  coins,  ever  meditative  over 
the  brevity  of  this  life  and  wondering  over  that  which 
was  to  come,  critically  observant  of  his  personal  habits, 
and,  though  conscious  of  his  weakness,  unafraid  be- 
cause of  a  superb  faith  in  God. 

Such  was  the  lad  who  wrote  on  the  first  day  of  that 


AT  SIXTEEN  19 

eventful  year,  "  A  journal  is  a  picture  of  the  mind," 
and  on  the  last — "  And  now  on  this  the  last  day  of  this 
year  let  me  pause  and  cast  a  scrutinizing  glance  over 
all  my  past  life.  Have  I  lived  a  Christian  year  ? 
Have  I  drawn  one  year  nearer  to  God  ?  As  this  year 
has  come  to  an  end  so  also  will  my  life  finally  draw  to 
a  close." 

Then  he  placed  the  first  tiny  volume  of  his  diary 
carefully  away  until  the  coming  of  that  day,  writing 
on  its  fly-leaf  the  unknown  name  of  its  author,— Wm. 
P.  Jacobs. 


n 

CHOOSING  THE  GOAL 

I  love 

Birds  and  stars  and  trees. 
Flowers,  books  and  bees, 
Ants  and  embryology, 
Poems,  anthropology, 
The  gold  of  Hermes'  rod, 
These :  all  of  whom  are  God. 

THERE  has  been  nothing  more  astonishing  in 
all  history  than  the  discovery  that  each  of  us 
was  once  one  cell.  Embryologists  tell  us  that 
the  most  powerful  microscope  and  the  acutest  intellect 
are  alike  unable  to  distinguish  between  the  first  one- 
roomed  house  in  which  lion  or  oak  or  fish  or  man  first 
lived.  Yet  in  that  original  germ,  given  the  proper 
environment,  lies  latent  the  power,  the  spirit,  the  prin- 
ciple that  will  eventually  distinguish  a  leopard  from  a 
lichen.  What  this  marvellous  thing  is  we  do  not  and 
probably  never  shall  know,  nor  may  any  eye  see  those 
invisible  processes  which  work  out  their  inevitable 
destinies.  Yet  all  these  wonderful  determinations  are 
there,  and  to  be  unfolded  need  only  time  and  life. 
Perhaps  this  is  what  he  subtly  saw  who  wrote :  "  The 
spirit  of  a  youth  who  means  to  be  of  note,  begins 
betimes." 

And  so  it  happens  that,  guided  by  a  long  series  of 
inheritances  that  have  concentrated  the  attainments  of 
his  forefathers  within  it,  the  cell  begins  its  high  task 
of  expressing  itself.    It  builds  for  itself  leaves  or  fins 

20 


CHOOSING  THE  GOAL  21 

or  claws  or  fingers.  As  it  lives  within,  so  it  lives 
without.  All  that  is  seen  is  the  expression  of  all  that 
is  unseen. 

And,  since  everj'^thing  in  this  world  is  like  everything 
else,  we  may  see  herein  the  story  of  each  human  life. 
No  eye  sees,  no  ear  hears,  no  hand  touches  that  un- 
known Within,  the  strange  process  of  whose  laws 
works  unceasingly  to  express  themselves  in  word  and 
deed,  in  books  and  buildings,  in  property  and  institu- 
tions. Men,  like  germs,  look  very  much  alike  as  they 
go  about  their  respective  affairs,  but  when  time  shall 
have  been  given  for  their  natures  to  build  a  body  about 
them  we  see  that  one  has  become  a  lion,  one  a  reptile, 
one  a  pig  and  one  a  man. 

Now  as  we  study  the  life  of  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  and  see 
it  taking  its  own  distinctive  shape  we  mark  certain 
divergencies  between  this  youth  and  others. 

The  greatest  thing  about  this  boy  was  that  he  wanted 
to  give  himself  away.  He  believed  a  thing  that  could 
only  be  proven  in  that  way.  He  believed  that  if  a  man 
would  not  seek  great  things  for  himself  but  for  God  he 
could  tap  the  fathomless  reservoir  of  power  and  with  it 
build  orphanages  or  colleges  or  churches  or  cotton  mills 
or  character  ;  but  of  the  five  only  character  mattered. 

To  do  this  he  knew  it  would  be  necessary  to  develop 
every  trait  of  greatness  and  this  must  be  done  by  meet- 
ing all  that  life  held  for  all  in  a  godlike  way.  This 
would  call  for  tears  and  disappointment  and  every 
troublous  thing  that  the  life  of  mankind  offered.  But 
it  would  bring  one  great  compensating  joy — he  could 
burn  and  hence  be  a  flame  that  would  show  how  life 
could  be  made  beautiful  and  wonderful  with  the  light 
of  God. 


22    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

And  that  was  what  he  wanted  to  be  and  do  more 
than  anything  else  in  the  world,  to  be  a  friend  of  God, 
and  do  the  works  of  God.  As  soon  as  he  saw  it  he 
went  out,  sold  all  that  he  had  and  bought  it.  It 
brought  a  joy  beside  which  the  comforts  and  pleasures 
of  ordinary  life  seemed  misery. 

Thus  early  his  life  may  be  summed  up  in  one  sen- 
tence. It  gave  him  more  pleasure  to  get  a  letter  from 
God  than  to  deposit  the  check  pinned  to  it. 

And  when  we  first  begin  to  read  his  mind  he  is 
gathering  up  evidence  to  prove  that  God  really  wrote 
the  letter. 

So  in  the  late  days  of  his  sixteenth  year  he  took  his 
motto  and  chose  his  ideal  in  these  memorable  words : 

"  Those  words  are  still  sounding  in  my  ears — '  Seekest 
thou  great  things  for  thyself,  seek  them  not.'  It  has 
always  been  one  of  my  dreams  to  be  distinguished ;  I 
have  always  been  seeking  great  things  for  myself,  to 
be  honoured,  loved  and  respected  of  all  has  been  my 
greatest  ambition,  and  is  it  wrong  to  wish,  to  strive  for 
these  ?  Are  these  great  things  ?  Will  striving  for 
them  be  seeking  great  things  for  myself  ?  The  answer, 
I  fear,  is  ^  Yes ! '  though  I  would  not  have  it  so. 
'  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself,  seek  them  not,' 
and  the  divine  command  must  be  obeyed.  I  will  not 
seek  great  things  for  myself.  I  will  seek  them  for 
God.  I  will  strive  to  lay  all  my  laurels  at  Jesus'  feet 
and  say  to  Him, '  Lord,  they  are  Thine.'  I  will  not  be 
an  indifferent  preacher,  a  medium  man.  I  will  strive 
and  try  not  to  gain  great  things  for  myself  but  to  gain 
them  for  God." 

It  is  characteristic  of  all  great  souls  that  with  a  con- 
suming desire  they  long  to  drink  of  the  cup  whereof 


CHOOSING  THE  GOAL  23 

Jesus  drank  and  be  baptized  with  His  baptism.  In  its 
increasing  frequency,  if  it  can  be  made  to  increase,  is 
to  be  found  the  universal  solvent  of  all  human  prob- 
lems. The  text  of  all  such  lives  is  that  first  text  which 
our  boy  of  sixteen  heard  once  and  whose  thought  he 
followed  with  an  utter  abandon  of  servitude — "  Seekest 
thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?    Seek  them  not ! " 

This  is  the  mantle  which  he  wore,  his  raiment  white 
and  glistening.  Like  the  ancient  mantle  of  Elijah,  it 
falls  to  the  ground  waiting  for  some  Elisha  to  reach 
for  it.  And,  as  then,  so  now  the  Great  Law  holds  that 
when  Jehovah  would  take  His  prophet  up  to  heaven 
by  a  whirlwind  he  is  ready  to  give  this  richest  gift  to 
any  man  who  wishes  it  and  is  able  to  see  its  former 
wearer  when  he  is  taken  away.  And,  as  was  Elisha, 
so  are  we  wise  enough  to  know  that  this  gift  is  his 
spirit  which  ever  remains  when  the  bodies  and  words 
of  prophets  are  gone,  visible  only  to  those  who  have 
eyes  to  see.  For  the  most  marvellous  as  well  as  the 
most  important  thing  about  any  great  life  is  the  spirit 
in  which  its  work  is  done,  comprising  as  it  does  his 
sweetest  goal.  He  may  build  orphanages  or  colleges 
or  churches ;  these  are  but  accidents.  The  man  who 
sees  them  does  not  see  the  man's  work,  much  less  the 
man.  The  spirit  of  his  life,  invisible,  intangible,  inaudi- 
ble, determines  these  forms  of  its  expression.  It  tells 
the  quality  of  his  purpose,  the  depth  of  his  power,  the 
fineness  of  his  principles.  In  what  spirit  did  he  wel- 
come labour ;  in  what  spirit  did  he  take  defeat ;  in  what 
spirit  did  he  face  the  storm  ;  in  what  spirit  did  he  en- 
dure reverses  ;  in  what  spirit  did  he  give ;  in  what 
spirit  did  he  take  ;  in  what  spirit  did  he  think  of  enemy 
or  friend,  of  profit  or  loss ;  of  comfort  or  pain  ? 


24    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

There  are  but  two  questions  that  need  be  asked  to 
reveal  the  character  of  a  man :  How  did  he  look  on 
gold,  and  how  did  he  look  on  God  ?  And  those  two 
are  one  question. 

It  is  as  if  a  man  who  had  found  the  way  to  true  hap- 
piness walked  up  and  down  the  highways  of  life  urging 
all  to  come  with  him.  The  multitude  note  the  peace  of 
his  brow,  the  joy  of  his  eyes,  the  certainty  of  his  step. 
They  watch  the  wonders  he  performs  and  are  astonished 
at  the  greatness  of  the  works  that  bear  witness  to  the 
truth  of  his  message.  They  themselves  would  like  to 
be  able  to  do  these  great  things,  wear  these  beautiful 
laurels  and  bear  these  high  honours,  a  few  would  even 
be  willing  to  sacrifice  their  comfort  and  pleasures  for 
them  but  they  are  equally  estopped  from  following  him 
who  feared  the  selfishness  of  the  honour  and  glory 
equally  with  the  selfishness  of  ease  and  profit.  Only 
here  and  there  is  there  a  man  who  can  even  see  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  which  he  lived  or  recognize  this 
altruism  and  self-denial  as  the  very  chariot  of  Israel 
and  the  horsemen  thereof,  things  desirable  in  themselves 
and  means  whereby  God  speaks  to  man. 

It  was  this  life  and  this  path  that  our  boy  of  sixteen 
chose  as  his.     He  asked  a  hard  thing. 

**  Love  took  up  the  harp  of  life  and  struck  on  all  the 
chords  with  might, 
Struck  the  chord  of  self  which  trembling  passed  in 
music  out  of  sight." 

So  his  goal  stood  revealed  for  he  was  plainly  drunk 
with  devotion  to  God.  He  would  perfect  himself  in 
six  languages,  English,  Latin,  Greek,  French,  German 
and  the  "  mellifluous  Hebrew,"  because  he  might  need 


CHOOSING  THE  GOAL  26 


/i«wu4^i«  dittos.*  f^-^j(zU^.    'y;C  ^y>*^  ^^~v^ucu^  'fev-w^  «,«««  9teu:s;v~^ 

^^^l-  <^  ovrfo vx^-,  ^^5;j^,  ^ 


^,^1^  ff  ^^i:^i^"/''<w,^  ♦n.^>f/r4  fiji^(t>^  oMMU^L 

A  page  from  a  little  book  on  «  The  Alphabet  "  which  he  wrote 
when  about  seventeen  years  old. 


26    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

them  in  serving  God.  He  wanted  a  good  library  to 
serve  God.  He  took  exercise  that  he  might  keep  well 
for  God.  He  would  try  to  live  by  fixed  principles,  for 
a  man  without  them  or  who  did  not  adhere  to  them 
could  not  be  a  credit  to  his  God.  He  planned  to  be 
good  for  God.  Everything  was  for  God  and  he  wanted 
God  so  ! 

"  I  do  wish  I  was  a  better  boy,"  he  exclaimed.  "  I 
wish  that  God  was  my  God,  that  Jesus  was  my  Saviour 
and  that  I  was  His  son,  that  I  dwelt  in  the  bosom  of 
Him  whose  '  love  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.'  O 
God,  be  my  God  !  " 

And  this  beautiful  picture  of  his  college  life  early  re- 
vealed him  standing  an  astonished  gazer  on  the  marvels 
of  life  and  Providence.  The  world  was  very  wonder- 
ful. It  seemed  so  wonderful  to  him  to  live  !  What  a 
glorious  thing  it  would  be  if  he  could  become  a  grad- 
uate of  Columbia  Seminary ! 

Here  is  a  youth  who  wanted  a  shorthand  book  so 
badly  in  his  sixteenth  year  that  in  his  poverty  he  could 
only  exclaun,  "  I  wish  I  had  a  dollar,"  writing :  "  Last 
night  was  so  beautiful  a  night  that  even  now  I  seem  to 
see  it  as  I  did  when  I  and  Johnny  Caldwell  were  walk- 
ing up  to  the  college  together.  Orion  flamed  over  our 
heads  in  deadly  combat  with  the  Bull ;  while  Sirius 
gleamed  near  us  with  unwonted  luster.  Luna,  bright 
and  full  as  the  day  when  the  evening  stars  sang  to- 
gether, shone  over  the  eastern  horizon  driving  before 
her  the  double  winged  Saturn  with  his  seven  moons. 
Here  and  there  a  fleecy  cloud  floating  slowly  along  re- 
sembled a  distant  milky  way,  while  all  around  was  as 
quiet  as  the  day  when  Adam  and  Eve,  the  father  and 
mother  of  all  living,  sat  alone  in  Paradise.     O  !  it  was 


CHOOSING  THE  GOAL  2Y 

a  lovely  sight,  a  sight  worthy  of  its  Creator  and  to  me 
only  needed  the  moonlit  field  and  the  glassy  lake  to 
hold  me  in  quiet  rapture." 

He  was  doing,  therefore,  an  exceedingly  dangerous 
thing,  this  admirer  of  God,  for  he  was  ready  fatuously 
to  follow  Him.  Something  was  sure  to  happen  when 
this  boy  got  out  in  the  world,  either  a  catastrophe  or  a 
glory.  He  was  going  to  risk  his  life  on  so  foolish  a 
thing  as  faith  and  so  tenuous  a  path  as  prayer.  Could 
it  end  in  anything  but  disillusionment? 

And  how  seriously  he  took  life,  even  each  minute  of 
it.  He  cannot  quite  consent  to  his  love  of  chess,  the 
time  consumer.  ''  O  fures,"  he  exclaimed,  "  latrones,  O 
tyrannos  crudelissimos  quorum  consilio  mihi  umquam 
periit  hora  "  which  illustrates  equally  his  fear  of  losing 
an  hour  and  his  love  of  Latin.  Time  seemed  to  him  to 
go  so  fast.  It  would  be  such  a  short  while  before  col- 
lege days  would  be  over  and  then  life  itself  was  but  a 
bit  longer.  Like  all  great  minds  he  had  become  bur- 
dened by  the  consciousness  of  the  brevity  of  life. 

Hence  his  craving  for  usefulness.  He  looked  forward 
with  delight  to  serving  others.  "  I  long  to  preach ! "  he 
writes.  "  I  love,  too,  to  hear  Father's  sermons,  and  1 
only  wish  that  he  had  a  country  parsonage  and  church. 
I  do  hope  that  if  God  shall  make  of  me  a  minister  that 
He  will  place  me  to  work  in  some  quiet  country  place. 
Surely  then  my  lines  would  have  fallen  to  me  in  pleas- 
ant places.  I  do  most  ardently  desire  to  become  a  min- 
ister and  to  labour  to  do  God's  service,  but  O  Lord,  Thou 
know  est  me  that  I  am  the  most  unworthy  of  all  Thy 
servants.'* 

He  determined,  "  God  willing,  the  chief  end  and  aim 
of  my  life  should  be,  to  be  of  service  and  glory  to  my 


28    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Maker,  to  love  Him  and  do  His  bidding,  to  be  a  man, 
free,  active,  unselfish  as  a  generous  youth ;  bold,  zeal- 
ous, honest,  unflinching  as  a  man.  I  will  be  a  servant 
and  adorer  of  my  Maker ;  always  relying  on  Him  to 
the  utmost." 

These  were  the  main  elements  in  the  spirit  of  Wm. 
F.  Jacobs,  rising  Junior  of  Charleston  College,  in  the 
year  1859. 

It  had  been  a  year  replete  with  interest  and  toil. 
Since  his  last  birthday  he  had  grown  three  inches  taller 
and  gained  twelve  pounds  in  weight,  and  felt  confident 
of  his  improvement  also  along  other  lines.  The  sum- 
mer he  had  spent  on  Edisto  Island  with  friends  of  his 
father's  so  pleasantly  that  ever  afterwards  he  was  to 
call  it  "  my  beloved  Edisto."  In  November  he  received 
through  Mr.  Woodruff,  his  brother  in  the  bonds  of 
phonography,  an  offer  from  Dr.  Gibbes  of  the  Caro- 
linian of  fifty  dollars  for  three  weeks'  reporting  of  the 
sessions  of  the  Senate  in  Columbia,  which  he  accepted. 
Once  there,  he  visited  the  theological  seminary.  He 
was  glad  he  went  for  there  he  met  four  students, 
"  Buist,  Banks,  Law  and  George  Petrie,  whom  I  have 
not  seen  for  four  years.  Tom  (Law)  explained  every- 
thing about  the  seminary."  Later  he  had  a  long, 
friendly  letter  from  Tom  Law.  They  were  to  be  in 
the  seminary  together  and  he  hopes  that  they  are  to  be 
good  friends  all  through  life. 

This  was  the  year  also  of  his  father's  remarriage. 
One  evening  his  father  called  him  into  his  room  and 
said,  '*  Willie,  how  would  you  like  a  mother  ?  "  He 
was  dumfounded.  The  spirit  in  which  he  met  her  was 
characteristic : 

"  Father  arrived  in  Charleston  to-day,"  he  wrote  in 


CHOOSING  THE  GOAL  29 

his  diary,  *^  with  Mother,  and  a  very  nice  mother  she 
is.  I  am  sure  I  will  love  her,  yes,  for  I  love  her  now 
with  all  my  heart.  She  looks  just  like  Father's  proper 
wife.  Oh,  may  she  love  me  as  truly  as  I  do  now  love 
her.  As  soon  as  she  had  taken  possession  of  her  room, 
Father  called  me  in  and  said,  *  Willie,  is  this  Mother  or 
Miss  Carrie  Lee  ? '  What  could  I  answer  but '  Mother '  ? 
Yes,  she  shall  love  me  and  I  her.  I  have  to  go  to  col- 
lege to-morrow  although  I  think  that  I  ought  not  to. 
Why  ?  Because  I  don't  want  to.  Our  lesson  too  is  all 
about  stars  and  constellations,  when  a  far  brighter  star 
has  just  entered  my  hemisphere  and  it  requires  all  my 
observation." 

He  loved  his  father,  whose  life-story  was  so  like 
and  yet  so  unlike  his  own.  He  notes  that  he  seemed 
to  have  inherited  his  father's  tastes  more  than  had  any 
other  of  the  children.  "  Father  has  expressed  his  de- 
sire," he  adds,  "  that  I  shall  become  his  representative. 
God  grant  that  I  may  be  a  worthy  representative  and 
help  me  to  do  my  best ! " 

Always,  God ! 

And  in  this  year,  very  early  in  it,  there  occurs  a  sen- 
tence written  parenthetically  in  his  diary  that  is  full  of 
beautiful  prophecy.  "  Kemember,"  he  writes,  "  I  am  a 
lover  of  children  !  " 

He  loved  so  many  things,  this  youth  of  seventeen, 
books,  singing,  sermons,  museums,  phonography,  stars, 
travel,  chess,  father,  Bible,  life,  churches,  colleges,  God 
— and  little  children. 


m 

VOICES  FEOM  THE  DEEP 

To  know  my  Lord  doth  love  me, 

'Tis  all  my  heart  would  know; 
For  He  is  Heaven  above  me, 

And  He  is  Earth  below. 

THE  faces  of  children  are  generally  associated 
with  the  future  but  their  finest  associations 
lie  with  the  past. 

The  stranger  who  meets  your  little  boy  sees  nothing 
in  his  face  but  a  fair  promise  of  coming  days.  It  is  the 
friend  who  really  interprets. 

Your  friend  sees  him  and  says  at  once,  "  He  is  like 
his  father." 

Your  wife's  friend  sees  him  and  exclaims,  "  How  like 
he  is  to  his  mother  !  " 

Your  father's  boyhood  companion  happens  by  and 
notes  the  resemblance  to  his  grandfather. 

And  some  day  an  aged  relative  comes,  one  who  had 
known  his  great-grandfather,  and  it  seems  to  him  that 
the  features  of  the  ancient  dead  have  reappeared. 

JS'ow  the  interesting  part  about  these  resemblances  is 
that  they  are  all  there  ! 

If  we  are  "a  part  of  all  the  men  whom  we  have 
met,"  how  much  more  are  we  a  part  of  all  the  ancestors 
who  have  begotten  us. 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  there  are  ancient  voices  cry- 
ing to  us  out  of  the  depths  of  our  souls,  and  a  thing 

30 


VOICES  FROM  THE  DEEP  31 

that  a  man  did  three  generations  ago  may  rule  our 
mood  of  to-morrow. 

As  the  spirit  unfolds  these  sub-spirits  appear,  these 
older  memories.  They  mingle  with  the  environment 
of  to-day,  its  admonitions,  its  teachings,  its  influences. 
They  wax  or  wane  in  power  as  the  years  pass.  Eventu- 
ally, modified  by  circumstances,  they  are  more  or  less 
fused  into  a  dominant  passion,  the  fixed  ideal  of  a  life, 
and  are  in  turn  transmitted  to  generations  to  come. 

Scientists,  and  all  who  read  their  works,  recognize  the 
term  "Sport."  A  sport  is  a  variation  in  the  line  of 
descent.  Like  begets  unlike  by  seeming  chance.  New 
and  dissimilar  characteristics  appear.  A  new  combina- 
tion of  elements  has  taken  place.     Hence  a  Shakespeare. 

From  the  depths  of  his  soul  three  spirits  were  con- 
stantly calling  upon  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  to  follow  them— 
the  spirits  of  the  Creator,  the  Preserver  and  the  Saviour. 
The  last  was  the  first  to  develop  and  showed  itself  in 
his  desire  to  be  a  Christian  and  a  minister.  The  second 
followed  quickly,  expressing  itself  in  the  recording  care 
of  the  historian  whose  diary  would  gather  up  each 
little  daily  happening  and  preserve  each  passing  me- 
mento and  whose  library  would  be  full  of  well-kept 
records  and  bound  volumes  of  reports.  The  third  was 
the  last  and  perhaps  the  deepest  passionate  cry.  It 
bade  him  create ;  at  first  as  an  author  and  later  as  a 
founder  of  churches,  colleges,  and  orphanages. 

One  of  these  voices  was  well  known  in  his  family 
history ;  the  voice  of  the  minister.  His  father  was  a 
minister  and  in  the  line  of  his  paternal  ancestry  there 
had  been  no  man  who  was  not  preacher,  teacher  or 
printer  back  to  that  dim  figure  of  whom  his  father  had 
told  him,  who  left  England  with  the  Puritans  and  be- 


32    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

came  professor  in  the  University  of  Leyden,  changing 
his  English  James  to  the  Latin  Jacobus. 

Doubtless  also  from  his  father  came  much  of  that 

f  |0  ^IHihriaiL 

No.  I.  JULY,  1859.  VolTT 

OUR  SALUTATORY, 

In  casting  forth  a  new  sheet  into  the  already  well- 
filled  world  of  periodicals,  the  Editors  have  in  view  the 
propagation  of  Chess,  as  well  as  the  pleasure  and  pro/it 
of  itheir  patrons,  of  whom  they  solicit,  simply,  tJie  obs^^r- 
i^an<^e  of  the  Golden  Rule-  They  would  endeavour, 
faithfully,  to  discharge  their  allotted  tasks  j  and  in  order 
4o  do  so,  satisfactorily,  they  need,  and  consequently  re- 
quest,  ori^lnQt  contributions  to  their  Editorial  di-awers. 

The  services  of  Mr.  W.  P.  J ,  in  the  lUcrart/y  and 

of  Mr.  0.  A.  M ,  in  the  scientific  departmeat  have 

been  engaged;  to  whom  all  communications  must  be  ad« 
dressed.  To  all  unacquainted  with  the  celebrated  gamCt 
a  series  of  Chess  articles  is  promised,  giving  elementary 
and  advanced  instruction,  suitable  alike  to  amateur  and 
beginner,  and  to  all,  they  would  ssiy-^-colcuIate  upon 
the  fjfreat  improvement  of  our  page  ! 

First  page  of  Vol,  I,  No.  i,  of  his  first  magazine  venture. 

fine  precision  and  care  w4th  which  he  kept  preserving 
the  record.  But  that  voice  of  the  Creator  which 
kept  expressing  itself  in  the  cry  for  authorship,  increas- 


VOICES  FROM  THE  DEEP  33 

ing  ever  in  volume  and  intensity,  the  desire  to  be  a 
poet,  a  maker,  a  doer  of  the  things  of  which  his  muse 
dreamed,  whence,  from  what  depth  of  His  invisible 
unknown  came  that  voice  ? 

And  here  we  must  remember  a  thing  that  may  seem 
to  be  very  far  away  but  is  really  very  near.     The  order 
is  yearning— prayer— answer.     And  he  who  gives  one 
gives  all.  ' 

During  the  years  1860  and  1861  he  was  distinctly  a 
reporter  and  author.  As  the  former  he  witnessed  the 
ill  fated  Democratic  Convention  in  Charleston  in  the 
spring  of  1860  and  reported  the  Legislature  in  Colum- 
bia :and  Charleston  in  the  fall  of  1860,  the  Secession 
Convention  in  the  last  month  of  the  same  year  and  the 
first  General  Assembly  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Augusta  the  following  year.  As  an  author 
he  was  the  writer  of  a  number  of  fugitive  poems  for 
the  News  and  Courier  and  the  Field  and  Fireside,  of 
more  serious  articles  for  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
and  the  Courier,  and  of  a  number  of  booklets.  His 
plans  for  future  literary  works  were  nothing  short  of 
astonishinof. 

In  all  this  he  was  ever  mindful  of  two  things :  the 
tick  of  the  clock  and  the  throne  of  God. 

"  I  am  nearly  nineteen,"  he  writes.  "  Ten  years  will 
make  it  twenty-nine,  thirty-nine,  forty-nine,  fifty-nine. 
Say  I  do  arrive  at  fifty-nine,  which  is  far  more  than  I 
ever  will  do.  I  must  die  then.  Let  me  work  then- 
the  night  is  near  at  hand.  Day  is  added  unto  day  t 
year  to  year !     But  death  cometh. " 

Therein  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  JSTovember  winds 
whom  the  dead  leaves  follow  one  by  one.  It  is  Youth 
facing  Death— astounded. 


34    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Then  the  Ime-bred  spirit  of  the  minister  answers 
from  the  Innermost  and  he  exclaims,  "  I  love  to  con- 
fide, to  trust  in  God !  I  love  everything — life  seems  so 
fresh.  God  grant  that  my  life  may  be  devoted  to 
Him/' 

If  we  follow  the  story  of  his  life  during  these  two 
years  we  find  them  full  of  interesting  happenings 
which  toss  him  here  and  there  in  the  world  as  if  to 
teach  him  of  what  sort  of  stuff  life  is  composed. 

The  opening  days  of  '60  found  him  busy  at  his  books 
working  hard  in  the  prospect  of  soon  becoming  a 
Senior.  This  was  to  be  a  year  which  he  later  called 
"  The  bright  year  of  my  life."  He  is  living  with  his 
father  in  Charleston  and  does  not  know  that  their 
family  life  is  soon  to  end.  He  is  even  more  a  devotee 
of  phonography  which  has  become  a  support  as  well  as 
a  delight  and  is  even  in  correspondence  with  Benn  Pit- 
man, who  publishes  a  note  from  him  in  his  PJiono- 
grajphic  Magazine.  He  is  trying  to  learn  to  sing, 
hoping  some  day  to  be  a  "  tenor  vocalist."  He  is  be- 
ginning to  write  for  the  papers  and  planning  to  spend 
his  vacation  on  his  "  beloved  Edisto."  He  is  often 
thinking,  earnestly  thinking  of  the  future  and  asking 
strange  questions  of  his  soul. 

Then  suddenly  Fate  opens  a  crack  in  the  door 
through  which  he  is  to  pass. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  in  Charleston  to 
nominate  a  President  of  the  United  States.  Its  failure 
to  do  so  unitedly  was  about  to  precipitate  the  War  be- 
tween the  States. 

One  Monday,  realizing  that  a  historic  scene  was  to  be 
observed  in  the  Convention  hall  he  obtained  his  ticket 
and  hurried  to  the  galleries  in  "  time  to  hear  several 


VOICES  FROM  THE  DEEP  35 

speeches  and  to  see  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  Missis- 
sippi, Texas,  Florida,  Arkansas  and  Georgia  withdraw 
from  the  Convention  "  amid  tremendous  applause.  Of 
this  scene  our  prescient  young  reporter  writes : 

"In  future  days  I  can  say  how  that  I  pressed  in 
among  others  to  this  Democratic  Convention.  I  saw 
the  grave  and  reverend  heads  of  the  people,  political 


Ticket  of  Admission  to  the  Charleston  Convention  of  1861. 


fathers,  in  grave  convention  assembled,  to  deliberate 
on  the  tottering  affairs  of  the  nation.  I  partook  of  the 
terrible  contentions  and  confusions  which  universally 
prevailed — I  saw  this  great  Republic  tottering  to  its 
foundation  stone."  J 

This  was  in  April  and  early  May.  When  July  came 
we  find  the  ministerial  spirit  strengthening  its  voice. 
He  is  planning  to  go  out  as  a  missionary  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and  strange  feel- 
ings and  fears  are  in  his  heart.  He  doubts  his  fitness 
for  the  work  but  will  pray  for  aid  and  enlightenment. 
Perhaps  God  will  help  him  in  time  of  need. 

And  thereafter  came  a  wonderful  vacation  month  on 
Edisto,  saddened  only  by  his  knowledge  that  his  father, 
having  received  a  call  to  the  Fairvie^^  Church  near 


36    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Marion,  Alabama,  and  having  accepted  it,  would  no 
longer  be  near  him  to  watch  over  his  studies. 

"  When  I  return  to  Charleston,"  he  writes,  "  I  will 
have  no  home.  I  must  board  as  a  stranger  in  an  old 
familiar  place.  How  sad !  I  will  be  passing  away — 
but  a  little  while  and  I  shall  know  it  no  more.  But 
this  earth  is  nothing  more  than  a  short  abiding  place. 
We  must  die  to  make  way  for  others,  but  there  is  room 
enough  for  all  in  heaven.  Father  goes  to  Fairview 
to-day.  '  Parting,  oh,  parting,  parting  is  pain.'  God 
bless  thee,  my  father !  Thou  hast  always  trusted  in 
Him.  He  will  aid  thee  now.  Thou  hast  taught  me 
where  to  gain  consolation.  Thou  hast  always  loved 
and  aided  me.  Oh  !  how  can  I  repay  thee  for  all  thy 
kindness  ?  I  will  not  try,  I  would  rather  be  in  thy 
debt.  Gratitude,  oh  !  how  sweet  to  be  grateful  to 
thee.     God  bless  thee,  my  father,  God  bless  thee." 

Thereafter  events  moved  rapidly.  His  kst  term  at 
college  begins  and  this  boy,  of  whom  his  father  once 
said  that  he  could  not  do  wrong  except  by  accident, 
buckles  down  to  hard  work,  sa^ang :  "  What  is  life 
worth  but  to  serve  ?  " 

And  then  a  curious  little  incident  occurs.  Dis- 
tressed at  the  necessity  of  being  supported  by  a  father 
who  has  many  other  responsibilities  and  limited  means, 
we  find  him  in  prayer  for  work  which  he  calls  help. 
"  Oh,  God,  give  me  something  to  do ! "  he  cries. 
"  Show  me  where  I  may  find  work.  Answer  me  for 
Jesus'  sake." 

And  then  the  days  pass.  Perhaps  he  forgot  the 
prayer  of  September  29th.  He  even  writes,  "  All  my 
brightest  anticipations  have  been  dashed.  I  had  ex- 
pected to  report  the  present  session  of  the  Legislature, 


VOICES  FROM  THE  DEEP  37 

but  I  have  tried  in  vain  ;  and  the  Synod,  but  that  too 
is  dashed." 

But  one  morning,  November  29th,  he  was  astonished 
by  hearing  his  name  called  and  a  "  Telegraphic  Des- 
patch "  was  handed  to  him.  It  was  from  Columbia 
and  read,  "  Come  up  immediately  and  report  for  me  !  " 

We  shall  remember  this  happening.  It  is  typical  of 
them  both. 

The  Legislature,  which  met  in  Columbia,  soon  ad- 
journed, on  account  of  a  severe  smallpox  epidemic,  to 
Charleston,  where,  on  the  twentieth  of  December,  it 
passed  the  fateful  Ordinance  of  Secession,  our  reporter 
scattering  the  printed  resolutions  upon  the  eager  crowds 
outside. 

Describing  the  scene,  he  says,  "The  Resolution 
read  : 

"  *  An  Ordinance  to  dissolve  the  Union  between  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  and  other  states  united  with 
her  under  the  compact  entitled  "  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  of  America." 

"  '  We,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  in  Convention 
assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  de- 
clared and  ordained— That  the  Ordinance  adopted  by 
us  in  Convention,  the  23d  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1788,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  ratified  and  also  all  Acts  or  parts  of  Acts 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  ratifying  amend- 
ments of  the  said  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed 
and  that  the  Union  now  subsisting  between  South 
Carolina  and  other  States  under  the  name  of  the 
"  United  States  of  America"  is  hereby  dissolved.' 

"  At  seven  minutes  after  one  the  vote  was  taken  on 
the  Ordinance,  '  As  name  by  name  fell  upon  tlie  ear  of 


38    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

the  silent  Assembly,  the  brief  sound  was  echoed  back 
without  one  exception  in  that  whole  grave  body — 
Aye ! '  Scarcely  had  the  President  announced  the 
vote  unanimous  before  the  people  assembled  without 
sent  up  one  universal  shout  of  triumph  and  men  and 
children  ran  from  street  to  street  heralding  the  glad 
tidings.  All  the  stores  were  closed,  bands  of  soldiers 
were  immediately  parading  and  crowds  were  gathered 
everywhere  to  hear  and  tell  the  news.  The  Mercury 
extras  were  seized  with  an  eagerness  unparallelled  in 
the  annals  of  the  Charleston  Press.  At  6  :  30  the  Con- 
vention again  met  and  proceeded  in  a  body  to  the 
Secession  (Institute)  Hall  to  ratify  the  Ordinance.  At 
the  foot  of  the  stairs  they  were  joined  by  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  and  the  three  bodies  took 
their  seats,  from  which  six  months  before  their  repre- 
sentatives had  seceded.  An  old  gray-headed  man  was 
brought  forward  to  supplicate  the  throne  of  grace  and 
Dr.  Bachman  poured  out  his  whole  soul  in  it.  The 
President  then  read  the  Ordinance  and  when  he  had 
finished  it,  the  whole  audience  rose  and  gave  tremen- 
dous applause.  One  by  one  the  delegates  went  up  and 
signed  the  Ordinance  and  when  the  last  was  added 
President  Jamison  said,  '  I  do,  therefore,  declare  South 
CaroUna  to  be  a  separate  and  independent  common- 
wealth.' Every  man,  woman  and  child  leaped  up,  hats 
flew  high  in  air,  and  cheer  after  cheer  echoed  and 
reechoed  from  floor  to  roof,  from  side  to  side,  until 
exhausted  it  fell  down  in  one  long,  loud  cadence  of  re- 
joicing. It  was  the  noblest  moment  of  my  life.  Even 
now,  while  I  write,  my  blood  thrills  with  excitement 
at  the  thought.  The  same  scene  was  enacted  in  the 
street.     General  Martin,  by  the  light  of  a  street  lamp, 


VOICES  FROM  THE  DEEP  39 

read  the  ordinance  to  the  crowd  where  it  was  met 
with  similar  enthusiasm.  Thus  ended  the  glorious  20th 
of  December." 

With  such  exciting  scenes  he  closed  "  The  brightest 
year  of  my  life,"  amid  uncertainty  and  doubt  and 
loneliness  and  labour,  with  the  vast  war  cloud  blacken- 
ing overhead.  And  he  feared  as  he  entered  into  the 
cloud.  Had  he  known  how  to  discern  the  signs  of  the 
time  he  would  have  heard  the  rumbling  of  the  deep 
forces  which  were  moving  to  change  the  whole  scenery 
of  the  stage  and  set  his  life  amid  the  poverty  and  de- 
spair from  which  its  finest  message  was  to  come.  He 
would  have  seen  the  messengers  of  God  hurrying  hither 
and  thither  sprinkling  the  ashes  of  woe  everywhere 
with  that  completeness  in  which  was  largely  to  lie  the 
meaning  of  his  whole  career.  He  would  have  felt  the 
whirr  of  martial  wings  rushing  to  ruin  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  mind  and  hand  of  the  Old  South  leaving 
a  pathway  among  them  open  only  to  him  who  could 
walk  by  faith. 

The  dark  chapter  in  his  nation's  novel  was  about  to 
be  written  and  he  was  to  be  a  letter  in  it. 

A  letter  raised  and  illumined  in  gold. 


lY 
HOMEWAED  FEOM  HOME 

The  waiting  soul  is  sick  for  work  to  be ; 

The  eye  looks,  languid,  at  slow-passing  days ; 

The  heart  beats  wearily  each  systole, 

And  frets  at  opportunity's  delayed  pace. 

Yet  fill,  O  Soul,  with  hope  Thy  faithless  gloom, 
For  to  Thee,  hoping  not,  Thine  hour  shall  come. 

"  1  A  URY  me  on  my  face,"  said  Diogenes.     Being 
1"^  asked  "  Why  ? "  he  replied :   ^'  Because  in  a 
JL^  little  while  everything  will  be  turned  upside 
down  !  " 

And  so  it  was  in  1861. 

With  the  war  enthusiasm  at  fever  heat  it  was  but 
natural  that  the  Senior  class  at  Charleston  College 
should  present  a  petition  to  their  faculty  setting  forth 
the  impossibility  of  their  doing  justice  to  their  work  on 
account  of  the  intensity  of  the  patriotic  fires  in  their 
souls  and  asking  for  immediate  possession  of  their  diplo- 
mas. This  they  did,  every  member  of  their  class  sign- 
ing it. 

Scarcely  had  it  been  done  before  the  war  began,  the 
fateful  adventure  of  the  Star  of  the  West  precipitating 
it  on  the  ninth  of  January. 

Then  followed  a  rapid  breakup  of  ties  and  relation- 
ships. JSTo  further  serious  work  was  done  at  college 
until  examinations  came  in  early  March.  He  attended 
the  last  meeting  of  the  Chrestomathic  Society  that  he 

40 


HOMEWARD  FROM  HOME  41 

loved  so  well,  sad  at  the  thought  that  his  school  days 
were  over.  For  the  last  time  as  a  student  he  went 
through  museum  and  library  and  heard  Dr.  Smyths 
preach  in  the  dear  old  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 
Then  he  writes  the  names  of  his  classmates  tenderly  in 
his  diary  and  ends  his  college  life. 

Shortly  thereafter  he  left  Charleston  for  his  father's 
pastorate  at  Fairview,  where  he  arrived  on  his  nine- 
teenth birthday. 

Here  he  spent  an  uneventful  summer  reading  and 
writing  and  thinking  and  planning.  It  was  a  summer 
of  constant  wrestling  with  resolutions  and  frequent 
complainings  at  his  inability  to  keep  them.  He  finds 
time,  however,  to  study  farming  at  this  country  manse 
and  describes  his  present  earthly  horizon  thus : 

"  I  purpose  raising  a  fine  supply  of  blackberries  and 
seeing  if  I  cannot  in  some  manner  improve  the  breed. 
I  pray  God  above  all  other  earthly  comforts  to  grant 
me  a  sweet  wife,  an  affectionate  charge  and  a  good 
chance  at  gardening.  With  these  I  think  that  I  could 
lead  a  peaceful  and  contented  life  and  rest  in  God  for 
all  things  else." 

And  here  also,  ever  observant  of  the  heavens,  he  en- 
joyed, unconsciously,  an  experience  rarel}''  given  to 
mortals.  With  characteristic  interest  and  care  he  tells 
the  story  of  it  in  his  journal : 

"About  a  week  ago  when  I  happened  to  arrive 
home  at  midnight,  I  noticed  in  the  east  a  streak  of 
light  beginning  in  the  horizon  and  well  defined  almost 
to  the  zenith.  What  was  it  ?  Was  it  the  zodiacal  light 
or  was  it  in  reality  the  ring  around  the  earth  which 
was  lately  spoken  of  as  discovered  by  the  United  States 
Expedition  in  Japan  ?    Again  another  visitor  has  ap- 


42    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

peared  in  our  skies— a  large  comet.  Of  this  little  vis- 
itant I  may  speak  again,  as  I  have  not  yet  seen  it." 

"  The  great  comet  is  now  visible  just  under  the  con- 
stellation of  the  Great  Bear.  What  thoughts  does  that 
bright  streak  of  light  bring  over  me — thoughts  of  the 
immensity  of  space,  strange  thoughts  on  the  inhabitants 
of  those  other  worlds — remembrances  of  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  only  on  earth  that  there  is  life  and  motion — 
startling  thoughts  of  the  unsearchable  greatness  of  God 
and  of  our  ineffable  littleness,  and  of  Christ's  great  con- 
descension. The  nucleus  of  this  comet  is  very  bright, 
brighter  than  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  silvery  light. 
Its  tail  is  as  straight  as  an  arrow  and  gradually  grow- 
ing wider  and  less  bright  in  its  extent  of  twenty  or 
thirty  degrees.  What  comet  is  it  ?  About  this  time 
in  1858  I  saw  a  comet,  brighter  indeed  than  this  but 
not  so  long.  What  mysterious  travellers  are  these  ? 
How  naturally  superstitious  thoughts  cluster  around 
them. 

"  The  comet  is  waning  in  the  distance.  It  seems  that 
the  appearance  which  I  mentioned  the  other  night  as 
having  been  the  zodiacal  light  was  in  reality  this  comet. 
It  was  then,  according  to  Dr.  Gibbes,  eighty  degrees 
in  length ;  its  head  was  in  the  horizon." 

"  The  comet  of  1861,"  says  Camille  Flammarion,  the 
great  French  astronomer,  "passed  at  273,000  miles 
from  us  on  January  30th  and  it  is  almost  certain,  ac- 
cording to  the  most  trustworthy  calculations  and  ob- 
servations of  M.  Liais,  that  the  earth  and  the  moon 
passed  through  its  tail  at  six  o'clock  that  morning 
(Paris  time).  In  fact  neither  the  earth  nor  moon  per- 
ceived it,  only  a  slight  Aurora  Borealis  was  seen  as  if 
the  tail  itself  were  simply  an  am^ora.     The  encounter 


HOMEWARD  FROM  HOME 


43 


SUNDAY,  July  7ih.  1861. 


(Xruo^mt^  Ctr^eA. 


i—    «        I   fix  ^    :       /I  %  0 

5^0^«^-    fiJ^cwOepjg,  /lICSw^'^    *^^^ 


Page    from    Diary,   July   7,    1861,    illustrating   comet    through 
whose  tail  the  world  passed  without  knowing  it. 


44    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

was  only  really  known  and  calculated  after  the 
passage." 

This  experience  of  passing  through  a  comet's  tail 
without  knowing  it  was  one  that  he  never  forgot.  On 
the  last  Christmas  that  he  spent  on  earth  he  told  it  to 
his  grandchildren  in  Atlanta. 

It  was  on  the  eighth  of  August  that  he  received  a  let- 
ter from  Dr.  Smythe  testifying  that  "  Wm.  P.  Jacobs 
is  a  most  acceptable  member  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Charleston  and  believed  to  be  a  most  worthy 
and  divinely  directed  candidate  for  the  sacred  office  of 
the  ministry,"  of  which  he  said,  "  How  very  little  does 
he  know  about  me !  " 

And  while  complaining  to  himself  of  his  laziness  he 
planned  to  write  three  books  ;  one  was  to  be  a  versifica- 
tion of  the  historical  Scriptures,  a  second  consisted  of  a 
series  of  articles  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  as 
evident  in  the  sciences,  and  the  third  was  to  be  a  book 
on  authorship. 

Slowly  the  long  vacation  passed  as  he  tried  a  plan 
found  in  the  Spectator  that  he  should  set  down  every- 
thing of  consequence  done  during  a  day  for  later 
examination.  The  following  was  "Trial  week"  and 
afterwards  "Perseverance  week"  then  "Study  and 
Prayer   week,"   and    "Useful    week"    and    "Sermon 

week  "  (he  only  wrote  two  pages  of  it),  and  " 

week."  Afterwards  the  comet  and  preparations  to 
enter  Columbia  Seminary. 

Yet  during  this  vacation  time  many  things  were 
happening  in  his  soul.  His  interest  in  literature  grew, 
expressing  itself  in  poems,  stories  and  articles  for  maga- 
zines and  newspapers.  He  busied  himself  translating 
the  Shorter  Catechism  into  Greek,  German  and  Latin. 


HOMEWARD  FROM  HOME  45 

In  his  first  month  of  solitude  he  heard  the  news  of 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter  and  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
He  read  many  books  of  travel  and  wanted  to  follow 
Stephen's  footsteps  in  Egypt  and  stand  on  the  summit 
of  Cheops'  great  pyramid  some  day.  He  heard  his 
father  preach  the  baccalaureate  sermon  before  the 
graduating  class  of  Marion  Female  Seminary  with  de- 
light, and  of  himself  says,  "  I  am  now  throwing  away 
the  best  moments  of  ray  life,  when  my  eyes  are  not 
weak  and  I  am  not  feeble."  In  the  middle  of  August 
his  father  received  a  call  to  Laurensville,  S.  C,  the 
county  seat  of  Laurens  County,  nine  miles  from  a 
little  place  called  Clinton,  and  decided  to  accept  it. 
This  was  the  first  tiny  thread  that  Providence  had 
prepared  wherewith  to  guide  him  to  his  destiny. 

At  length  September  came  and  one  daybreak  he 
reached  Columbia,  in  company  with  George  Petrie, 
recently  a  classmate  of  Sidney  Lanier's  and  Ed  Green's 
at  Oglethorpe  University,  and  rode  with  him  up  to  the 
seminary.  A  few  other  brethren  came  in  during  the 
day,  among  them  "my  good  old  friend,  Tom  Law." 
*'  It  is  the  habit  here,"  he  writes,  "  to  call  all  the  stu- 
dents '  Brother.'  Of  course  I  find  this  rather  difficult 
but  not  altogether  impossible.  Those  I  love  most  I 
find  it  hardest  to  *  Brother.' " 

This  was  on  the  seventeenth  of  September.  On 
Tuesday  morning  following  the  students  were  ex- 
amined on  Personal  Piety.  "Little  enough  could  I 
give  to  satisfy  them,"  he  thought,  "  but  still  my  name 
was  enrolled." 

So  he  entered  upon  his  theological  career,  with 
Brother  Todd,  from  Laurensville,  telling  him  that  he 
could  find  any  number  of  places  near  there  wherein  to 


46    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

show  forth  the  talent  that  was  in  him ;  with  Brother 

H offended  because  he  would  not  listen  to  long 

yarns  on  the  Sabbath  but  insisted  on  reading  the  New 
Testament  to  all  who  would  tell  them ;  complaining 
ever  that  his  spirituality  was  weak  and  planning  to 
write  a  book  on  some  consoling  topic  of  religion  to 
leave  for  his  posterity.  Of  this  last  he  writes  a  hope 
which  was  a  prophecy.  "  I  want  it  to  be  small,"  he 
says,  "and  yet  my  whole  life  to  be  spent  in  elaborating 
it  so  that  every  word  will  be  worth  printing  and  every 
sentence  a  gem,  and  yet  I  wish  it  so  fixed  that  if  I  die 
next  month  (year)  it  will  be  ready  for  publication.  I 
want  to  leave  something  to  posterity,  so  that  even  in 
my  death  I  may  be  useful  to  my  fellow  men.  I  hope 
that  this  will  not  turn  out  to  be  a  mere  idle  chimera  of 
my  imagination." 

On  the  thirtieth  of  October  he  made  his  first  appear- 
ance before  the  faculty  as  a  public  speaker  only  to  be 
criticized  unmercifully.  His  matter  was  poor,  his  man- 
ner bad,  his  pronunciation  unsatisfactory,  his  position 
wretched.  He  received  no  syllable  of  praise.  Only 
George  Petrie  said  that  he  liked  his  speech.  There 
seemed  to  be  very  little  hope  for  him  as  a  preacher. 

But  he  would  try  to  do  better  next  time. 

In  November  he  passed  the  terrible  ordeal  of  Pres- 
bytery after  Dr.  Howe  had  proposed  his  name.  His 
college  examination  was  the  thing  he  most  feared. 
Dr.  Leland  gave  him  the  first  five  verses  of  Luke's 
gospel  to  read  and  the  first  paragraph  of  I  Cicero 
against  Cataline.  After  this  followed  such  searching 
questions  as  "What  is  Natural  Philosophy?"  "  What 
is  Astronomy?"  "Is  Chemistry  a  useful  Science?" 
^'  What  is  a  Satellite  ?  "  "  What  is  the  Solar  System  ? '? 


HOMEWARD  FROM  HOME  47 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Howe  the  examination  was  "  Sus- 
tained." 

The  same  month  he  finished  reading  through  the 
ISTew  Testament  in  the  original  Greek  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life. 

In  this  month  also  he  preached  his  first  sermon. 
This  is  his  story  of  it : 

"  At  the  request  of  Brother  Otts  I  went  up  to  Tekoa, 
a  mission  station  on  the  Charlotte  road,  to  preach.  Just 
after  breakfast  I  hurried  over  to  the  depot  and  got  on 
some  cars  which  were  about  to  leave.  I  soon  found, 
however,  that  I  had  not  got  on  the  passenger  train  but 
on  one  carrying  up  soldiers.  I  knew,  however,  when  I 
reached  Tekoa,  by  Killian's  mill-pond,  and,  though  the 
cars  were  at  full  speed,  I  had  no  intention  of  going  up 
to  Charlotte,  so  off  I  jumped,  '  flying  squirrel  fashion,' 
and  down  I  came  full  length.  I  jumped  up,  however, 
and  found  that  my  neck  was  not  broken  and  went  over 
to  the  church.  I  conducted  the  Sunday  School  and  got 
on  very  successfully  until  the  very  close,  when  the  choir 
leader,  who  was  singing  '  Old  Hundred,'  gave  out  and 
1  was  obliged  to  sing  alone  the  last  two  lines,  though 
I  had  never  sung  a  line  unaided  before  in  my  life.  I 
believe  I  changed  the  tune  completely  before  I  got  to 
the  end.  I  was  very  cold  in  the  pulpit — chilled,  chat- 
tering, and,  though  my  sermon  was  written,  I  managed 
to  get  considerably  wound  up  on  '  Jesus  wept,  and  the 
Jews  said,  "  Behold  how  he  loved  him  ! "  '  After  serv-^ 
ice,  however,  I  felt  very  cold  and  exhausted  and  walked 
over  to  Mr.  Killian's,  and  he  gave  me  a  glass  of  black- 
berry wine,  which  relieved  me.  I  thank  God  that  He 
enabled  me  to  do  as  well  as  I  did.  There  were  two  or 
three  out  of  the  twenty  present  who  seemed  to  listen 


48    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

with  a  great  deal  of  attention.  I  managed  to  get 
home— Tutus  Mente  et  corpore." 

With  the  closing  month  of  the  year  came  the  meet- 
ing of  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  which  convened  in  Augusta,  Ga., 
on  December  third.  He  was  engaged  to  report  the 
Assembly  for  the  Southern  Presbyterian,  by  Dr.  Adger, 
who  offered  him  fifty  dollars  for  his  services  in  that 
capacity.  Nor  did  Dr.  Adger  leave  him  unaided. 
*'  Dr.  Adger,"  he  writes,  "  is  making  Dr.  Palmer,  the 
Moderator,  act  parliamentarily  and  yet  very  much  not 
so.  He  made  a  little  speech  the  other  day  in  which  he 
suggested  that  it  would  be  of  much  service  to  the 
reporter  if  he  would  call  out  the  name  of  each  mem- 
ber as  he  rose.  Dr.  Palmer,  though  he  has  no  right  to 
know  that  there  is  a  reporter  in  the  house,  has,  on  one 
or  two  occasions,  turned  to  me  and  said,  *That  is 

Dr.  ,  Mr.  Jacobs.'     I   ought   to   feel  flattered. 

Judge   S said  to  me  yesterday,  'The  gentleman 

who  spoke  last  was  Judge  S ,— it  is  well  to  know 

these  little  things.'      I  assured  him  that  I  knew  his 

title  and  would  give  it  to  him.     Mr.  R said  to  me, 

'  Take  a  good  look  at  me,  Mr.  R ,  I  intend  to  make 

a  speech  some  day  and  I  want  you  to  know  me.  You'll 
remember  it  ? '  '  Yes,  sir,  a  little  better  than  you 
think.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature  in 
men ! ' " 

This  first  meeting  of  his  Assembly  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  him  who  was  thus  flung  into  the  very  midst 
of  things  at  the  very  outset  of  his  ministerial  career. 
It  gave  him  great  pleasure  to  meet  many  friends  of  his 
father  and  he  was  thus  early  made  to  feel  at  home  in 
his  father's  house.     He  noted  carefully  the  leaders  of 


HOMEWARD  FROM  HOME  49 

the  Assembly, — "  Dr.  Palmer,"  he  wrote,  "  is  beautiful, 
Dr.  Thornwell  is  strong.  Dr.  Palmer  is  polished,  Dr. 
Thorn  well  wonderfully  earnest,  Dr.  Palmer  is  refined 
in  thought,  Dr.  Thornwell  is  broad,  deep,  clear."  He 
was  interested  when  a  Mr.  Frierson,  of  Tennessee,  asked 
for  some  of  his  photographic  reports,  making  him  write 
in  it, — "  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  to  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Society,"  and  saying  that  it  would  some  day  be  of 
great  value  to  them,  and  he  was  saddened  by  reports 
of  the  great  fire  which  swept  through  Charleston 
lowering  the  venerable  head  of  the  old  Circular 
Church,  the  proud  Cathedral  and  Institute  Hall, 
mother  of  Secession.  "  And  thus,"  he  tells  his  diary, 
"  have  I  again  arrived  at  the  termination  of  another 
year — a  year  fraught  to  me  with  even  richer  experi- 
ences than  the  last — a  year  wonderful  in  changes  to 
myself  and  our  family.  This  year  has  closed  forever 
to  me  my  college  life  and  has  made  me  an  artium 
baccalaureus.  In  this  year  I  have  gained  rich  ex- 
perience in  life — have  passed  through  one  of  the  most 
eventful  periods  in  the  history  of  the  country.  I  have 
seen  stars  fall  one  by  one  from  the  flag  of  the  once 
glorious  United  States.  A  new  nation  has  arisen  upon 
the  earth,  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  and  I  am 
a  citizen  of  it — proud  indeed  of  the  honour.  A  bloody 
year  to  our  land  has  this  been.  The  first  echo  of  the 
mighty  struggle  was  sounded  in  my  ears  on  the  8th  of 
January.  ISTews  of  thrilling  interest  has  continually 
flown  on  lightning  wings  along  the  wire — at  Sumter, 
at  Bethel,  Springfield,  Belmont,  Port  Royal,  Manassas, 
Leesburg  and  Drainsville  the  hosts  of  contending 
nations  have  met  and  fought  and  bled,  and  Southern 
arms  have  won  the  field  by  God's  strong  aid. 


50    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  But  not  less  important  to  me  also  has  been  this  year. 
I  have  stood  since  the  lirst  day  of  January  last  on  the 
ever  sounding  banks  of  the  Atlantic  and  watched  its 
proud  waters  lash  a  new  Republic's  shores.  I  have 
sped  over  the  wide  prairies  of  Alabama  and  floated 
adown  its  majestic  river.  I  have  stood  too  in  sight  of 
the  wondrous  mountains  at  Lithonia  and  have  gazed 
adown  the  ever  rolling  waters  of  the  Savannah. 

"  But  in  another  aspect  my  life  has  been  marked  by 
this  year.  In  it  I  have  begun  my  lifelong  studies — 
things  new  and  strange — and  have  met  minds  of  other 
men  and  learned  to  know  them.  Happy  the  thought 
that  I  have  made  some  friends  this  year. 

*'  I  have  been  received  as  a  candidate  for  the  gospel 
ministry  and  have  preached  my  first  sermon — besides 
doing  other  first  things ;  not  least  important,  I  have 
written  my  first  book  and  had  it  printed.  I  have  done 
much  in  the  publishing  line  and  I  have  attended  and 
reported  the  first  Presbyterian  General  Assembly. 

"  Many  other  things  could  I  mention  which  God  has 
done  for  me,  but  are  not  these  enough  ?  And  now  the 
year  is  gone.  Have  I  profited  from  my  year's  ex- 
perience ?     To  me  a  solemn  question  is  this. 

"  A  year  is  gone — a  year  nearer  to  that  bourn  from 
whence  no  traveller  returns.  Oh,  Lord,  so  teach  me  to 
number  my  days  that  I  may  apply  my  heart  unto 
wisdom.     Farewell  to  1861." 

In  this  resume  of  the  year  we  see  revealed  the  man- 
ner of  youth  he  was — a  youth  who  watched  life,  noting 
all  its  changes  and  counting  them  wonderful;  a  his- 
torian feeling  himself  unknown  and  alone  though  he 
was  a  part  of  all  the  vast  drama  whose  story  and  stag- 
ing he  witnessed ;  a  traveller,  watching  hill  and  valley 


HOMEWARD  FKOM  HOME  51 

and  longing  to  see  the  lands  beyond  the  mountains, 
the  cities  beyond  the  seas  ;  a  student  who  loved  study 
for  what  it  brought  him  of  the  Father's  wisdom- 
treasures  ;  a  printer  whose  first  tiny  "  Book  of  Reptiles  " 
set  and  printed  by  himself  as  a  youth  of  fifteen,  con- 
taining seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight  words  on 
twelve  2^x4  inch  pages,  has  expanded  and  grown  into 
poems  and  stories  and  ambitious  book-hopes;  a  time- 
keeper, numbering  his  days  that  he  might  apply  his 
heart  unto  wisdom,  and  a  patriot. 

We  expand  that  word  into  a  paragraph.  Far  back 
in  December,  1858,  his  father  being  a  slaveholder, 
when  a  student  of  sixteen  he  w^rites  in  his  diary,—"  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  slavery  at  best  is  a 
diabolical  practice." 

Almost  a  year  later,  three  days  after  he  had  entered 
a  telegraph  office  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  describes 
a  violent  debate  in  the  Senate  of  South  Carolina,  which 
he  was  reporting,  on  the  subject  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
adds :  "  I  was  awfully  a  Secessionist  but  now  I  am  a 
strong  Unionist.  I  would  not  see  one  quill  plucked 
from  the  wing  of  that  proud  bird  which  is  emblazoned 
over  our  Senate  hall." 

But  when  his  state  seceded  and  battle  came  with  the 
customary  stories  of  horrible  atrocities,  his  heart  and 
prayers  followed  his  new  flag.  The  reader  must  have 
already  noted  that  Love  was  the  charmed  word  of  his 
vocabulary  and  he  loved  South  Carolina. 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY 

Speak  of  the  woods  that  darken,  here,  my  way, 

Thou  dear  old  memoried  road  to  Enoree. 
Interpret  to  my  heart  the  wondrous  play 

Of  wisdom  on  the  path  One  builds  for  me. 
Tell  of  the  bridging  of  a  thousand  streams, 

The  passing  of  the  mountains,  undelayed ; 
Of  bird-thronged  meadows,  spread  for  him  who  dreams, 

The  River,  waiting,  when  the  end  is  made, 
And  then,  beyond  the  Mill,  the  Bridge,  and  then 

The  Land  to  which  He  calls  — 
"Whither,  O  builder  of  the  Ways  of  Men, 

Whither — beyond  the  Falls  ? 

IT  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  thing  to  see  God  but 
it  can  be  done. 
Heraclitus  used  to  say  that  "knowledge  of 
divine  things  was  for  the  most  part  lost  to  us  by  in- 
credulity." It  is  this  difficulty  of  seeing  them  that 
renders  us  incredulous  of  their  existence. 

As  life  runs  on,  for  a  long  time  w^e  seem  to  have 
around  us  only  the  homely,  familiar  sights  that,  in  our 
ignorance,  we  are  pleased  to  call  common,  till  the 
change  comes  and,  suddenly,  the  inexpressible  glory  of 
what  God  has  been  doing  is  upon  us. 

There  is  something  very  strange  about  life.  We 
learn  after  the  event.  It  is  from  change  that  wisdom 
comes. 

So  to-day  we  can  look  back  to  that  Sabbath  morning 
in  May,  1862,  on  a  young,  inexperienced  and  unknown 

52 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY  63 

minister  riding  on  a  borrowed  horse  to  fill  an  ordinary 
appointment  at  an  ordinary  country  church  and  see 
around  his  head  something  of  a  halo,  as  if  the  old  red 
and  muddy  road  led  upward  somewhere  to  an  ineffable 
glory. 

For  is  there  anything  more  fascinating  than  watch- 
ing what  happens  to  a  man  who  truly  gives  himself  to 
God? 

Powers  invisible,  inaudible,  intangible  begin  at  once 
their  work  of  transforming  the  common  into  the  ro- 
mantic, the  sinful  into  the  holy.  They  light  the  way- 
side  bushes  with  the  flames  of  God.  One  by  one  all 
things  swing  into  a  line  of  progress  towards  something 
that  Some  One  sees  Somewhere.  Nothing  is  ever  again 
unimportant.     An  accent  may  decide  a  destiny. 

And  so  it  was  with  the  young  man  who  was  going  to 
preach  the  second  sermon  of  his  life  at  Bethany  that 
day.  Some  one  had  once  suggested  his  father's  name 
for  the  headship  of  the  Laurensville  Female  Seminary, 
to  which  position  he  had  been  later  elected.  Upon  his 
acceptance,  as  his  custom  was,  he  began  preaching  in 
weak  and  vacant  churches  thereabout.  Among  these 
was  Bethany.  When  one  day  his  son  from  the  semi- 
nary came  home  on  a  visit,  never  having  preached  but 
once  before  in  his  life,  he  pitched  him  out  in  this  water 
to  swim  by  himself.  All  this  was  simple  enough,  com- 
mon enough,  humble  enough,  and  it  was  done  so  quietly 
that  the  youth  could  suspect  nothing  ulterior  in  it. 
Indeed  when  he  wrote  of  it  in  his  diary  this  is  all  he 
saw : 

"  Early  this  morning,  being  Sunday,  at  Father's  re- 
quest, I  got  Brother  Riley's  horse  to  fulfill  Father's  ap- 
pointment at  Bethany,  ten  and  one  half  miles  distant. 


54    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

The  day  being  very  cloudy,  I  found  the  ride  there  very 
pleasant  though  quite  fatiguing.  After  riding  five 
miles  I  stopped  to  inquire  the  way  and  was  told  by  an 


FRIDAY.  D«e«mb«r  "inih,   1661. 


l4wvo     1^^-U^    %''^'"*^  ^^    *^*^~^ 

**^  o\  <liu  two 


r^ 


UT^a^l-e^.^*^ 


Public  buildings  of  Laurens  as  he  found  them  in  i86i,on 
his  first  visit. 


old  lady  that  Bethany  was  yet  ten  miles  off.  That  I 
knew  could  not  be  so,  and  was  gratified,  a  mile  farther 
on,  to  find  it  but  five  miles  off.  Inquiring  my  way  as 
I   went,  thinking   over  my  sermon,  communing  with 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY  55 

God  and  my  own  soul,  wondering  at  the  vicissitudes  of 
life,  watching  the  pretty  bh'ds  that  kept  continually 
flitting  about  me, — the  sparrows  and  partridges  and 
plenty  of  similar  game,  I  passed  the  time  pleasantly 
enough  until  I  reached  the  church.  There  I  became 
acquainted  with  the  elders,  and  Eider  Byrd  bade  me 
take  my  own  way.  One  old  gentleman,  an  elder  from 
Duncan^s  Creek,  suggested  that  as  it  was  raining  I 
should  be  short.  I  must  confess  that  I  trembled  a 
little  as  I  ascended  the  pulpit  stairs  and  that  on  several 
occasions  my  wits  forsook  me  and  fled.  Once  or  twice 
I  felt  my  courage  oozing  out  at  the  tips  of  my  fingers. 
The  congregation  was  very  large  considering  the 
weather  and  I  got  considerably  warmed  up  on  the  sub- 
ject— '  Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  the  devouring 
fire?  Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  everlasting 
burning  ?  ^  When  I  concluded  old  Mr.  Saxon  cordially 
invited  me  to  dine  with  him  and  I  accepted  his  invita- 
tion. On  reaching  his  house,  young  Mrs.  Saxon  ex- 
tended the  welcome  and  I  did  justice  to  her  good 
dinner.  I  had  occasion  to  speak  about  their  souls'  con- 
dition to  two  negroes,  one  of  whom  seemed  deeply 
touched  by  the  morning's  discourse, — the  other  was  a 
member  of  the  church.  As  it  had  now  cleared  off,  I 
bade  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Saxon  good-bye  and  thanked  them 
for  their  kindness.  My  ride  home  was  not  so  pleasant, 
as  I  was  continually  in  danger  of  losing  the  way,  and 
both  I  and  my  horse  were  nearly  exhausted.  Never- 
theless, I  had  many  pleasant  thoughts.  Thus  was 
preached  ray  second  sermon.  May  God  give  me  grace 
to  preach  with  power  and  with  the  sjpirit.  I  reached 
home  in  the  evening,  almost  tired  down,  and  found 
pleasant  company  awaiting  me  there." 


56    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

And  so,  unknowing  and  unknown,  he  passed  along 
the  wonderful  way  by  which  he  was  being  introduced 
to  his  whole  future  life.  From  those  strange  homes  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left  were  to  come  experi- 
ences rich  and  good  and  from  one  of  them,  the  one  at 
the  end  of  a  long  road  winding  off  to  the  right  as  he 
went,  was  to  come  half  of  his  life.  A  little  river  was 
to  the  left  of  him  as  he  neared  the  church,  a  river  that 
he  was  to  frequent  often  as  the  shadows  of  even  fell 
about  him,  and  over  the  valleys  to  the  right  lay  a  little 
town  that  he  was  to  love  as  his  own  soul. 

These  things  he  did  not  see  as  he  rode  alone  on  his 
way  to  Bethany,  yet  all  his  yearnings  and  prayers  and 
hopes  were  in  them.  For  these  he  had  pleaded  in  far- 
away Charleston  and  of  them  he  had  dreamed  on  his 
beloved  Edisto.  He  had  been  impatient  for  them  at 
Marion  and  despaired  of  their  ever  coming  at  Columbia. 
For  these  he  was  come  into  the  world — for  Bethany 
and  Duncan's  Creek  and  Shady  Grove  and  Gilder's 
Creek  and  Clinton  and  Rockbridge.  He  and  they 
were  to  go  down  life's  pathway  together  watching  the 
wonderful  things  that  God  and  years  and  the  souls  of 
men  and  women  work  out  between  them. 

Any  one  who  has  seen  an  artist  lay  the  background 
of  his  painting  upon  which  all  the  future  outlines  are 
to  grow,  or  watched  a  sun  rise  slowly  out  of  the  night, 
can  understand  that  ride  to  Bethany. 

For  the  broad  outlines  of  his  life  were  laid  down  that 
day. 

Here  was  a  student  of  Latin  and  Greek  and  Hebrew 
and  metaphysics  and  history  and  astronomy  and  all  the 
rest  of  God's  wonderful  world,  and  yet  such  a  student 
as  had  once  decided  that  he  would  dash  all  these  de- 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY  57 

lightful  studies  aside  if  that  would  make  him  a  better 
guardian  of  the  souls  of  men,  a  city  boy  who  loved 
libraries  and  museums. 

And  here  was  the  muddy  roav'  leading  to  the  four 
bare  walls  of  a  country  church. 

And  therein  was  his  prayer  answered. 

Over  this  road  he  was  to  ride  to  all  that  the  world 
held  for  him  of  happiness  and  service. 

Soon  he  was  preaching  at  Smyrna  and  leading  the 
prayer-meeting  at  Laurens  and  filling  Brother  Eiley's 
appointment  at  Shady  Grove.  What  if  the  elder  from 
Duncan's  Creek  should  suggest  that  he  cut  his  sermon 
short  on  account  of  the  rain,  and  the  old  lady  at  Shady 
Grove  exclaim,  "  Pshaw,  he's  nothing  but  a  boy !  '*  the 
great  thing  was  being  accomplished,  he  was  giving  him- 
self away. 

And  the  gift  was  being  accepted ! 

And  in  order  that  the  record  might  be  all  the  clearer 
his  city  life  of  academic  and  literary  flavour  with  its 
ante- war  luxury  was  to  contrast  with  the  desolation  of 
a  country  community  overwhelmed  by  the  vast  catas- 
trophe of  fratricidal  strife.  He  who  had  worshipped 
in  the  beautiful  old  churches  of  Charleston  was  being 
led  to  Shady  Grove  and  Duncan's  Creek.  He  whose 
life  had  been  spent  in  alcoves  of  libraries  and  museums, 
who  thought  in  terms  of  cathedrals  and  colleges,  was 
within  two  months  to  preach  his  first  sermon  in  Clinton. 

For  Brother  Holmes,  having  heard  how  acceptably 
he  had  filled  the  pulpit  at  Shady  Grove  and  having 
himself  been  called  away,  had  secured  his  promise  to 
preach  at  Clinton  on  July  13,  1862.  This  is  how  he 
tells  the  story  of  it : 

"  About  eight  o'clock  Mr.  Holmes  sent  a  vehicle  over 


58    THE  LIFE  OF  \YILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

for  me.  I  mounted  and  was  soon  on  the  way  to  Clin- 
ton. On  the  way,  I  resolved  not  to  preach  the  sermon 
I  had  prepared  but  to  preach  the  very  first  one  I  ever 
wrote  on — '  Jesus  wept,  etc'  On  reaching  the  door  I 
found  the  congregation  already  assembled,  and  after 
various  introductions  I  succeeded  in  beseeching  a  Mr. 
Rose  to  raise  the  tunes  for  me.  He  at  last  complied 
and  did  finely.  I  preached  with  earnestness  and  I  trust 
that  I  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  feeling  of  '  Is  not 
this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built,'  which  often  af- 
flicts the  minister.  I  lost  sight  of  self  and  caught  sight 
of  Christ.  Invariably  will  the  minister  find  this  to  be 
the  case— first,  lose  yourself ;  second,  find  Christ.  Both 
are  coordinates,  one  of  the  other.  The  negroes  were 
very  earnest  and  attentive,  and  many  of  the  whites, 
nay,  most  of  the  whites,  were  also.  I  trust  some  good 
was  accomplished  and  I  hope  no  evil.  I  took  dinner  at 
Mr.  Phinney's,  and  a  good  dinner  it  was. 

"  I  started  home  immediately  after  dinner  and  feeling 
sleepy  I  gave  the  reins  to  the  boy.  After  a  short  doze 
I  raised  myself  with  the  sensation  that  we  were  at  a 
halt.  Sure  enough,  we  were  at  a  standstill,  the  boy 
was  asleep,  the  reins  in  the  bottom  of  the  buggy  and 
the  horse  quietly  grazing  by  the  roadside.  'Why, 
Billie,'  said  I,  ^  this  will  never  do ! '  He  started  up  sud- 
denly and  soon  we  were  again  on  the  way.  I  watched 
him  closely  for  a  while  but  as  he  seemed  to  be  wide 
awake,  I  again  began  to  doze.  Suddenly  I  felt  a  severe 
jar— the  buggy  was  down  in  a  gully,  we  were  nearly 
upset,  the  boy  had  been  nearly  pitched  out  and  both 
traces  had  been  unloosened  and  the  horse  was  about  to 
walk  off — the  negro  had  gone  to  sleep  again.  After 
that  I  kept  my  eyes  open  and  we  reached  home  in  safety. 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY 


59 


Presbyterian  map  of  Laurens  County,  taken  from  his  Diary, 
showing  conditions  as  they  were  on  July  13,  1862,  when  he 
preached  his  first  sermon  in  Clinton. 


60    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  I  met  Mr.  Adams  again  and  he  says  I  must  come 
down  to  Shady  Grove  next  Sunday." 

Now  is  not  all  this  ordinary  enough  to  be  God 
Himself  ? 

What  a  wonderful  thing  is  this  Providence  that 
closes  our  eyes  to  the  future  and  opens  them  to  the  past ! 

He  had  visited  the  scene,  the  very  church  wherein 
his  life  was  to  be,  and  his  eyes  were  veiled — as  are  ours. 

But  we  see  already  the  broad  outlines  of  certain  fig- 
ures wherewith  his  Great  Desire  was  being  answered. 

One  of  these  was  poverty.  The  stage  was  being 
stripped  of  its  costly  scenery.  Museums,  libraries,  col- 
leges, orphanages  were  being  removed  and  only  the 
bare  floor  and  walls  were  remaining.  Evidently  here 
was  a  play  that  was  to  deal  in  the  elementals.  Life 
was  to  be  its  theme  without  veneer  or  varnish.  Souls, 
his  among  them,  and  God  were  to  come  upon  that 
stage  when  these  extraneous  things  had  disappeared. 
The  greatest  calamity  in  all  its  history  had  fallen  upon 
the  theater  in  which  he  was  to  play  his  part,  nor  was 
its  real  work  yet  finished.  Ashes  were  there  and 
mourning  and  blackness  of  every  shade. 

This  was  the  gift  that  was  being  returned  to  the  boy 
who  had  given  himself. 

And  with  it  came  all  the  marvel  of  the  ordinary 
which  is  utterly  fathomless  in  mystery.  There  was 
nothing  uniquely  attractive  about  the  land  in  search  of 
which  he  had  left  his  beautiful  Ur  of  the  Chaldees. 
There  he  would  find  no  purpled  mountains  nor  silver 
sands  upon  any  seaside.  Only  the  country  was  there 
as  God  made  it  and  a  few  disfigurations  made  by  man. 
Laurens  County,  Clinton,  the  countryside  and  its 
churches  were  utterly  ordinary,  with  nothing  in  fauna 


THE  WAY  TO  BETHANY  61 

or  flora  to  distinguish  them  from  other  common  coun- 
tries ;  lacking  any  of  those  special  natural  beauties  of 
ocean  or  lake  or  mountain  range,  with  only  here  and 
there  a  muddy  stream  to  remind  him  of  more  beautiful 
landscapes. 

These  were  the  two  colours  that  the  Great  Artist  had 
already  placed  on  the  canvas  of  his  life. 

But  thereby  was  his  prayer  answered  for  therein  was 
his  soul  to  be  satisfied. 

As  his  country,  his  town,  his  churches  were  utterly 
ordinary,  so  also  were  they  utterly  typical,  and  in  that 
lay  the  artist's  meaning. 

No  man  could  ever  say  of  him,  "  See  how  he  was  fa- 
voured by  environment  and  witness  the  great  forces  lying 
latent  waiting  for  him  to  use  them."  He  was  to  have 
no  tools,  no  means,  nothing  but  the  common  possessions 
of  the  humblest  believer  in  the  Power. 

Without  glory,  without  reputation,  without  friend- 
ships, without  health,  without  wealth  he  was  going  into 
a  land  crushed,  desolated,  impoverished,  discouraged, 
decimated  and  at  its  very  best  poor  and  ordinary. 

So  that  if,  in  all  the  years  to  come,  there  should  be 
shown  by  him  any  unusual  thing,  any  remarkable  evi- 
dence of  special  power  no  man  could  ever  question  his 
testimony — and  God's. 

And  this  is  their  testimony ;  that  they  gave  them- 
selves to  one  another. 


VI 

PUTTINa  ON  THE  AEMOTJE 

Like  him  of  trembling  heart  who  fain  would  try 

To  tread  the  waters  of  a  stormy  sea, 
Amazed  that  w^aves  a  willing  path  could  be 

For  those  who  hear  the  whisper :  It  is  I. 

ON  many  a  desperate  sea  the  mariner  of  old 
used  to  cry  to  Neptune,  "  O  God,  Thou  mayest 
save  me  if  Thou  wilt,  and  if  Thou  wilt  Thou 
mayest  destroy  me ;  but  whether  or  no  I  will  steer  my 
rudder  true !  " 

This  is  the  high  resolve  in  the  lives  of  the  truly  great. 

It  came  to  fuller  expression  in  his  life  during  the 
remaining  years  at  the  seminary. 

Again  it  was  a  handicap  that  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  finish  his  course  there.  He  suffered  from  amau- 
rosis of  the  eyes  and  was  thereby  eliminated  from  the 
army,  those  so  suffering  being  accounted  unfit  for  mili- 
tary service.  An  idea  of  the  pressure  being  brought  on 
all  citizens  to  take  up  arms  at  this  period  of  the  war 
may  be  obtained  from  the  attitude  of  Dr.  James  Henley 
Thorn  well,  the  great  leader  of  Presbyterian  thought  of 
his  day.  Of  him  he  tells  us  that  on  the  28th  day  of 
the  preceding  February  Dr.  Thornwell  had  delivered 
one  of  the  most  stirring  patriotic  addresses  he  had  ever 
heard.  "  He  tried  to  rouse  the  people  up  to  a  patriotic 
spirit  and  make  them  feel  the  greatness  of  the  crisis 
that  had  fallen  upon  them.  He  bade  them  remember 
Thermopylas,  Marathon  and  Salamis  and  gave  a  soul- 
stirring  description  of  heroic  Greece.     He  most  terribly 

62 


PUTTING  ON  THE  AEMOUR  63 

rebuked  the  '  mean,  despicable,  contemptible  wretches, 
who  could  make  their  country's  loss  their  own  gain,' — 
and  bade  every  man  to  take  his  gun,  and  if  he  had  no 
gun,  his  pistol,  and  if  he  hadn't  that,  his  hatchet,  his 
hoe,  *  anything  that  will  kill,'  and  go  and  defend  their 
wives,  their  daughters  and  their  sisters." 

And  so  as  the  autumn  of  '62  came  and  the  hour  for 
leaving  his  father's  home  in  Laurens  drew  near  he 
writes : 

"  I  have  gotten  into  a  stern  fit  of  the  blues  at  the 
prospect  of  my  early  departure  for  the  seminary  under 
such  circumstances.  How  can  I  leave  Father  or  Mother 
or  good,  dear  Aunt  Becky  ?  How  can  I  say  good-bye 
even  to  Lula  or  dear  little  Mamie  ?  The  little  moist 
drops  will  wash  the  corners  of  my  eyes  and  if  I  try  to 
whistle,  my  whistle  sticks  to  neither  treble  nor  bass 
but  flutters  mournfully  about.  Even  my  hands  thrust 
themselves  nervously  into  my  pockets.  I  had  a  mourn- 
fully prospective  dream  last  night  which  appeased  my 
anxiety  to  return  no  little.  How  changed  will  be 
everything  there !  How  very  changed  !  How  very, 
very  changed !  The  bare  thought  is  sufficient  to  sadden. 
The  lively,  merry  Cozby  and  Banks  and  Otts  are  gone. 
Witty  Brother  Cleveland,  with  his  songs  and  tales, 
gone  Green,  McKinnon,  Law,  gone,  gone,  all  gone. 
Only  one  or  two  left  and  they  doubtfully  left— all  the 
rest  gone,  gone  forever.  I'll  shut  the  page.  I  do  not 
like  sad  pictures  or  sorrowing  scenes.  I  do  not  like  to 
dwell  on  that  which  only  grieves  me  but  I  cannot  bear 
the  thought  of  eight  solitary  months.  God  grant  that 
I  may  be  happily  disappointed  in  my  unpleasant  fore- 
bodings." 

This  frame  of  mind  was  doubtless  accentuated  by 


64    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

the  bitter  news  received  on  August  2d  of  the  death  of 
Dr.  Thorn  well.  His  death  had  come  suddenly,  of  "  ty- 
phoid pneumonia,"  at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  on  the  preceding- 
day.  The  young  man  considered  the  older  the  greatest 
man  in  the  Southern  Confederacy.  "  Good-bye,  Brother 
Jacobs,"  he  had  said  as  they  parted  at  the  close  of  the 
spring  term  of  the  seminary.  "  May  God  bless  you  and 
take  care  of  you."  "  I  will  prize  those  Avords,"  wrote 
the  young  minister,  "as  the  blessing  of  the  greatest 
man  I  ever  knew."  One  of  the  first  pleasures  of  his 
life  upon  his  return  to  Columbia  was  "hearing  Dr. 
Palmer  deliver  his  eulogy  on  the  life  and  labours  of 
Dr.  Thornwell,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  a  house 
that  it  would  not  be  very  hyperbolic  to  style — jammed, 
jammed.  For  two  hours  and  a  half  he  spoke  of  the 
glorious  man  and  the  audience  hung  on  his  impassioned 
words  with  breathless  attention.  His  own  frame  quiv- 
ered with  emotion  and  the  heart  chords  of  his  audience 
thrilled  to  his  masterly  touch.  Not  a  word  was  lost  of 
that  grand  eulogy  of  one  great  man  upon  another  and 
while  he  spoke  I  felt  continually — how  awful  is  the 
loss  !  In  glowing  words  he  led  the  youthful  Thornwell 
from  his  native  Chesterfield  and  set  him  amid  judges 
and  chancellors  in  a  president's  chair.  He  drew  an 
outline  of  his  character — his  filling-in  showed  the  hand 
of  a  master  artist.  His  simple  style  of  reading,  as  any 
other  man  would  read,  was  completely  lost  sight  of  in 
the  grandeur  of  his  periods  and  the  overwhelming 
majesty  of  his  expression.  Deep,  silent,  grand  flowed 
on  the  monarch  river — and  men  felt  while  he  spoke. 
And  when  he  spoke  of  the  death  of  the  immortal  man, 
of  his  comparative  silence,  of  his  stupor  and  the  few 
words  that  escaped  his  lips,  we  wejpt.    He  told  how  in 


PUTTING  ON  THE  ARMOUR  65 

his  last  moments  smiles  of  unspeakable  beauty  played 
around  and  over  his  countenance,  and  only  single  ejacu- 
lation of  *  wonderful,  amazing,  expanse,  expanse,  ex- 
panse '  told  of  the  glorious  foretaste  of  immortality  he 
was  enjoying.  And  his  closing  words  led  us  up  through 
the  shining  gates  of  heaven  and  showed  us  the  seraphic 
Thorn  well  in  immortal  converse  with  Beza  and  Calvin 
and  Luther,  with  thousands  and  thousands  that  sit 
about  the  throne,  so  that  even  a  gladdening  smile  came 
over  every  countenance,  the  murmurs  of  discontent 
were  hushed  and  for  a  moment  we  were  persuaded  to 
rejoice  that  our  Thornwell  is  in  heaven." 

When  he  arrived  at  the  seminary  that  fall  he  had 
found  only  one  other  student  besides  himself :  "  Brother 
Porter."  "  Brothers  Hunnicutt  and  Boggs  "  came  a  little 
later.  The  autumn  was  largely  to  him  hard  study  in- 
terspersed with  victories,  outrages,  prisoners,  sermons 
on  the  ^'  Invincibility  of  the  South  "  and  the  "  Army  of 
Beelzebub,"  with  such  other  war  news  and  propaganda. 
"  I  have  all  my  expenses  provided  until  January !  "  he 
happily  exclaims,  yet  one  day  in  weakness  and  sickness 
he  faints  in  his  room  at  the  seminary. 

Pittacus  said  once  that  the  half  is  ever  greater  than 
the  whole.  He  found  it  so  that  year.  "  I  do  not  enjoy 
pleasure  half  as  much  as  labour,"  he  writes,  and  here 
and  there  through  his  journal  there  appears  the  sen- 
tence that  seems  to  have  been  more  than  any  other  his 
life  motto,  "  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself,  seek 
them  not ! " 

He  was  so  thankful  for  the  little  he  had.  "  I  have  a 
fire  to  sit  by,"  he  writes,  "  and  books  to  read,  and  I 
know  where  my  food  is  coming  from  for  three  months. 
For  all  this  I  thank  God  \ " 


66    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

In  February  of  '63  his  beloved  brother,  Pressley,  of 
whom,  as  a  little  boy,  he  had  written  in  his  diary,  ''  Oh, 
that  Pressley  would  find  Him  I "  came  home  on  sick 
furlough.  Some  one  had  indeed  remembered  those 
earnest  lines  in  the  tiny  book  and  answered  the  prayer 
they  expressed.  Before  the  following  summer  had 
passed  we  find  him  writing  sadly : 

"  Oh,  my  God !  that  Thou  shouldst  cause  me  to  write 
what  this  day  must  be  recorded.  My  brother,  my  only 
brother,  has  been  snatched  away  by  death.  God  of 
Mercy,  how  can  I  endure  Thy  chastenings  !  Lord,  Thy 
stroke  has  fallen  upon  me  like  the  strokes  that  Thou 
alone  canst  give.  He  fell  at  Gettysburg  the  2d  of 
July.  He  fell  fighting  gallantly  with  his  face  to  the 
foe.  I  cannot  realize  it,  I  cannot  believe  it.  I  thought 
he  would  be  spared  to  see  me  again,  and  I  longed  to 
embrace  in  my  arms  one  who  had  been  so  lately  made 
to  me  a  double  brother — a  natural  and  a  spiritual.  The 
stroke  is  heavier  than  I  can  bear.  What  a  bereaving 
year  has  this  been  to  me — one  brother  dead,  another 
worse  than  dead.  Of  the  four,  I  alone  am  left.  Oh  ! 
Pressley,  Pressley,  would  to  God  I  could  have  died  for 
thee,  my  brother.  Why  hast  thou  too  departed  and 
left  me  alone  to  weep  ?  Dead !  Dead !  Oh,  my  God, 
Thou  art  terrible  in  Thy  chastisements.  I  cannot 
write.     All  I  can  do  is  to  cry.  My  God !  My  God ! " 

On  March  fifteenth  of  1863  he  came  to  his  twenty- 
first  birthday.  It  was  to  him,  who  so  often  thought 
of  time,  an  ominous  and  awful  hour.  A  new  chapter, 
a  new  book  begins  in  that  hour.  Its  caption  is  "  Man- 
hood Begun"  and  its  text,  "Fear  not,  I  am  with 
thee.  .  .  .  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself, 
seek  them  not.    .    .    .    Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cru- 


PUTTING  ON  THE  ARMOUR  67 

cified."    In  the  solemnity  of  that  hour  and  thought  he 
takes  up  the  full  burden  of  manhood,  saying  : 

'^  I  give  myself  wholly  to  God, 
I  give  myself  wholly  to  the  ministry, 
I  utterly  repudiate  self,  sin,  Satan, 
I  live  for  the  good  of  the  world, 
I  live  for  God's  cause  on  earth, 
I  live  for  the  world  to  come. 

"  I  will  call  nothing  mine  but  God,  no  man  Master 
but  God,  no  place  home  but  Heaven,  remembering  that 
all  is  momentary  that  delights  us,  all  is  momentary  that 
afflicts.     All  that  is  not  eternal  is  nothing. 

*'  Oh,  God,  it  is  indeed  a  solemn  thing  to  take  up  the 
duties  of  life.  Grant,  great  God,  that  this  worm  that 
pleads  with  Thee  may  become  great  in  Thee.  Let  me 
know  Thee  and  Thee  only,  and  as  this  Sabbath  day  on 
which  I  attain  to  manhood  is  holy  to  Thee,  oh,  let  my 
whole  life  be  one  continual  Sabbath  to  Thee.  Let  me 
live  Thee,  let  me  breathe  Thee,  and  not  have  a  single 
thought  that  is  not  in  accordance  with  Thy  will,  from 
now  henceforward,  forever.  Bless  me  with  humility, 
purity  and  truth.  Let  me  become  a  perfect  man,  a 
perfect  Christian,  a  perfect  preacher.  In  every  joy  or 
sorrow,  in  sickness  or  health,  life  or  death,  oh.  Lord,  do 
Thou  rule.  Open  Thy  word  to  my  mind  and  heart. 
Let  King  Jesus  rule  within  me.  Let  the  Holy  Spirit 
bless  me  and  guide  me  into  all  truth  and  comfort.  Do 
Thou  dispose  my  whole  earthly  career  just  as  Thou  wilt 
and  enable  me  in  everything  to  say,  *  Thy  will  be  done.' 
Oh,  Father,  hear  me  and  answer  Thy  servant's  suppli- 
cation. Seal  Thy  answer  upon  my  heart  unto  sanctifi- 
cation  by  the  Spirit,  having  purified  me  by  the  blood 


68    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

of  Jesus,  and  to  Thee,  oh,  Father,  Son  and  Spirit,  three 
in  one,  be  praise  forever.     Amen." 

In  this  spirit  he  became  a  man.  His  environment 
and  heredity,  reacting  upon  his  education  and  they  to- 
gether upon  his  inmost  soul,  had  produced  this  net  re- 
sult that  he  considered  himself  a  tool.  His  conception 
of  a  tool  demanded  use.  He  wanted  to  wear  out  but 
never  rust.     He  was  ready  now  for  his  life's  toil. 

And  so  one  Tuesday  in  April  '64  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  Columbia  Seminary  met  and  resolved  to  dis- 
pense with  the  usual  examinations  of  his  class,  that  is 
Brother  J.  S.  Arbuthnot  and  himself,  stating  that  their 
diplomas  would  be  forwarded  later.  In  the  meantime 
he  had  visited  his  dear  old  Charleston  once  more  to  be 
licensed  in  the  lecture  room  of  the  Central  Church 
where  Presbytery  was  meeting,  and  visiting  incident- 
ally the  old  college  scenes  and  viewing  the  defenses  of 
the  city.  He  had  later  been  called  to  preach  at  Gilder's 
Creek,  which,  with  Shady  Grove,  constituted  his  first 
regular  charge.  Soon  a  letter  from  his  father  hints 
that  Clinton  will  try  to  obtain  his  services,  and  one  day 
while  he  was  preaching  at  Shady  Grove  two  gentlemen 
from  that  village,  Messrs.  Phinney  and  McClintock,  ap- 
peared, and  the  call  came  later.  Brother  Holmes  ad- 
vised him  to  accept.  He  ended  1863  by  his  father's 
fireside  in  Laurens  and  early  in  1864  agreed  to  preach 
twice  a  month  at  Clinton  and  once  each  at  Shady  Grove 
and  Duncan's  Creek. 

He  left  the  war-stricken  school  of  the  Prophets  with 
its  handful  of  students  with  sadness  and  regret. 

"  I  am  no  longer  a  boy  but  a  man,"  he  thought ;  "  with 
my  untried  armour  I  go  forth  to  battle.  How  shall  I 
endure  the  conflict  ?  " 


YII 
IN  THE  UPPEE  EOOM 

How  like  to  him,  forth  summoned  as  he  bent 

Beneath  his  fig  tree,  musing  on  his  deed. 
To  marvel  when  he  learned  whereto  would  lead 

The  path  that  followed  where  His  Master  went. 

THEEE  is  nothing  more  astonishing  to  those 
who  study  the  lives  of  great  men  than  their 
apparent  consciousness  of  something  unusual 
about  their  talents  and  careers.  "  I  know  that  I  shall 
be  a  great  poet "  said  Sidney  Lanier  in  an  hour  of  dis- 
appointment and  obscurity. 

So,  here  and  there  in  the  life  of  our  hero  we  catch 
glimpses  of  this  same  consciousness,  evidenced  in  plan 
and  confession  as  if  he  knew  himself  to  be  a  great  soul 
whose  life  rather  than  whose  words  were  important  to 
the  world. 

When  the  little  upper  room  at  Mr.  Phinney's,  where 
he  first  lodged  in  Clinton,  had  been  occupied  and  the 
books  all  unpacked  and  shelved  and  arranged ;  when 
he  had  taken  charge  of  his  parish  and  was  about  to 
begin  his  first  visits  to  his  people,  he  sets  before  him- 
self his  task,  resolving  "  to  try  to  fit  myself  for  a  perfect 
fulfillment  of  all  the  arduous  duties  of  life  no  matter 
where  I  am  called." 

As  we  look  back  on  the  life  of  this  man  in  whose 
career  so  many  wonderful  things  happened,  our  eyes 
catch  the  gleam  of  this  fine  hour,  white  as  no  fuller  on 

69 


70    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

earth  could  whiten  it.  The  soul  of  this  boy  of  twenty- 
two  years,  in  his  tiny,  desolate  village  of  five  years' 
growth,  over  whose  pathway  the  gray  ashes  of  war 
were  sifting,  is  yet  aglow  with  God. 

"  I  am  here,"  he  writes,  "  here  seated  in  my  same  old 
study  chair,  with  my  table  beside  me  and  books  and 
maps  about  me.  I  am  waiting  for  the  Spmt  of  God, 
waiting  for  Him  to  fill  my  heart  with  faith  and  hope 
and  love.  It  is  the  fifth  of  May,  a  day  full  of  heart 
burnings  and  strong  resolves,  a  day  of  earnest  cries  to 
God,  a  day  of  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future. 
Eternity  is  flitting  before  me,  heaven  and  hell  are 
spread  out  at  my  feet.  I  am  waiting,  waiting !  Oh, 
God,  let  me  be  working.  Why  do  I  tarry  ?  Thou  art 
waiting,  waiting  for  me  to  come  and  invoke  Thy  pro- 
tecting care.  Lord  God,  I  come  here,  here  on  this 
bright  sunlit  morn,  I  come,  throw  myself  upon  my 
knees  and  pray.     ...     I  am  now  ready  to  work." 

There  is  something  awful  about  this,  his  utter  con- 
fidence, his  absolute  faith,  his  childlike  trust,  con- 
trasted with  the  abysmal  night  of  war  and  discourage- 
ment about  him,  for  there  was  not  in  his  surroundings 
a  single  element  of  the  good  cheer  customarily  so 
considered  in  the  thoughts  of  men.  Everything  with 
which  he  had  to  deal  was  little,  cheap,  common,  so 
measured.  He  had  to  do  with  persons  and  places  and 
churches  of  no  importance  to  society  or  state.  Yet  he 
faced  his  surroundings  as  if  wonder  were  in  his  eyes  at 
the  glory  of  their  every  feature. 

This  was  his  great  wisdom,  for  it  was  even  so. 

He  began  his  work  in  Clinton  on  May  5,  1864,  and 
on  May  22d  had  organized  a  Sunday  School  with  eighty 
scholars,   twenty-seven    of  whom   were  in   his   Bible 


IN  THE  UPPER  ROOM 


n 


Class.  He  was  ordained  on  May  20th,  Rev.  Zelotes  L. 
Holmes,  whose  missionary  efforts  had  organized  the 
church,  charging  the  pastor,  and  J.  R.  Riley,  the  young 
pastor  at  Laurens,  his  county-seat,  "spake  well  and 
feelingly  about  paying  the  preacher." 

By  Monday  morning  following  he  was  on  his  way 
to  Columbia  to  buy  some  books  for  his  Sunday  School 


Clinton,  as  he  drew  it  in  December,  1864. 

library.  On  Tuesday,  August  12th,  he  started  a 
weekly  prayer-meeting  but  had  to  do  all  the  praying 
himself  at  first.  His  first  Presbytery  met  at  Cross 
Hill  where  he  was  entertained  by  Mrs.  Nance.  It  was 
November  before  he  had  married  his  first  couple. 
Dr.  Craig  and  Miss  Lizzie  Owens ;  his  first  fee  was 
fifty  dollars  (in  Confederate  money)  and  he  remarked 
ruefully,  "  I  have  no  wife  to  give  it  to."  The  same 
month  he  ordained  his  first  elder.  Dr.  William  H. 
Henry,  over  the  Clinton  Church  and  succeeded  in 
borrowing  a  melodeon  from  Mr.  Rush  Blakely  for  use 
in  the  church.     By  that  time  he  had  triumphantly 


Y2    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

placed  the  Southern  Presbyterian  in  thirty  homes  and 
had  well  begun  his  lifelong  task  of  boosting  Clinton, 
toiling  for  his  institutions  and  preaching  the  Gospel. 

To  this  last  he  had  set  his  whole  soul  with  a  devotion 
that  burned  away  all  dross. 

"  I  feel  almost  as  though  I  had  done  nothing,"  he 
mourned.  "While  I  have  received  but  seven,  my 
neighbours  at  Hurricane  seem  to  be  having  a  large 
revival.  Surely  ray  sins  are  ruining  these  churches 
and  yet  I  am  puffed  up  in  my  own  conceit.  I  feel  that 
the  Lord  is  getting  ready  to  humble  me.  I  have  been 
striking  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  and  the  next  strike  must 
be  One  !  I  feel  almost  ready  to  give  up.  I  am  foolish, 
lazy,  ignorant,  conceited,  proud.  Oh,  God,  give  me 
light.  Help  me  or  I  fail.  Why  have  I  undertaken 
this  work  ?  I  cannot  go  forward.  I  dare  not  go  back- 
ward. Lord,  save  or  I  perish."  This  was  in  August, 
1864. 

In  this  thunder-cloud  lurked  the  lightning  that  struck 
swiftly  and  suddenly  the  following  month.  Then 
"  The  Lord  has  certainly  been  with  me,"  he  exults, 
"  and  that  in  a  marvellous  manner.  We  have  just  held 
our  protracted  meeting  at  Clinton  and  forty  souls  have 
been  added  to  the  church.  Besides  this,  there  are  yet 
between  twenty  and  thirty  inquiring  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, some  of  whom  I  doubt  not  will  be  added  to  us. 
Oh !  how  grateful  I  am  to  the  prayer-hearing  God. 
See  how  He  answers  prayer :  I  prayed  before  the  meet- 
ing just  this  way  and  in  these  words,  ^  O  Lord,  add 
three  souls  to  my  church, — Father,  be  merciful  and 
give  me  ten.  No,  Lord,  Thou  art  able  to  do  a  great 
thing  as  easity  as  a  small.  I  pray  for  forty.  Oh,  God, 
in  Thy  great  mercy  add  forty  souls  to  this  church ' — 


I]S[  THE  UPPER  ROOM  Y3 

and  the  Lord  answered  my  prayer  to  the  letter.  The 
first  day  three  were  added,  the  second  day  I  had  ten, 
and  before  the  meeting  closed  we  received  precisely 
forty ^  not  one  less  or  more.  Is  not  this  a  remarkable 
answer  to  prayer  ?     Surely  I  need  never  doubt  again  ?  " 

Does  one  open  his  eyes  in  astonishment  at  this 
strange  coincidence  ?  Is  there  wisdom  in  it  and  re- 
ward ?  And  is  it  a  tiny  drop  of  liquid  gold  smelted 
from  the  fire  of  soul  struggles  and  agonized  prayer  ? 
Has  the  tiniest  hint  of  a  halo  begun  to  form  about  the 
head  of  this  devoted  boy  ?  Is  a  word  about  to  be 
spoken  through  him — an  old,  old  word  ? 

When  he  had  written  the  story  of  this  wonderful 
thing  in  his  diary  he  added :  "  Oh,  I  want  so  much  to 
be  a  true,  noble-minded  Christian  ;  I  am  a  theoretical 
Christian,  I  want  to  be  practical.  My  love  and  faith 
are  worse  than  weak — and  yet  I  do  love  and  do 
believe." 

Many  a  person  before  and  since  has  faced  the  forks 
of  that  road  but  how  few  have  turned  to  the  right ! 

Having  put  first  things  first  he  then  turned  to  take 
an  inventory  of  the  town  into  which  he  had  come.  He 
names  its  assets  over  one  by  one : 

"  Stores — Dry  Goods — Phinney  and  West,  Hayne 

Williams,  Huett. 

Groceries — Copeland  and  Bearden,  Wm. 
Rose. 

Assorted — Craig  andTobin,  Mess.  Bailey. 
Buggy  Factory — W.  D.  Johnson. 
Wagon  Factory — Robert  Huett. 
Harness  Factory — Richard  Huett. 
Blacksmithing — Johnson,  Huett,  Young. 
Carpenter  Shops — W.  B.  Bo  wen,  Geo.  Davidson. 
Gin-Maker  and  Tinner — Geo.  Davidson. 


74    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Steam  Saw-Grist  and  Flour  Mill— Joseph  Crews. 
Shoe-Shop — D.  T.  Compton,  Geo.  Simpson. 

(Colored)  Nelson  Hood. 
Schools — Male  School,  Rev.  Theo.  Hunter. 

Female  School,  Mrs.  R.  Dunlap. 
Churches — Presbyterian  and  Methodist. 
Hotel— Joel  T.  Foster. 
Masonic  Lodge,  No.  44. 
Physicians — Dr.  Lon  Harris,  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Henry, 

Dr.  Richard  Dunlap. 
Millinery — Mrs.  Burgers,  Mrs.  Huett. 
Tailoring — Wm.  Butler. 

Not  to  mention  a  railroad  which,  unfortunately,  is 
not  in  running  operation." 

All  these  were  in  little  ^vooden  shanties,  the  only 
brick  building  being  a  barroom. 

So  he  set  about  wdth  his  plans  for  the  community. 
There  was  a  little  school  called  the  Clinton  Male 
Academy.  This  he  proposed  at  once  to  improve  and 
endow.  For  the  church  he  desired  to  introduce  the 
taking  up  of  collections  and  otherwise  improving  her 
benevolences,  and  for  the  negroes,  who  were  soon  to 
begin  an  unaccustomed  freedom,  he  was  already  plan- 
ning— a  church. 

This  was  the  mind  of  the  little  minister  in  the  upper 
room  at  the  Phinneys'  as  he  began  his  service.  With 
such  a  soul  he  stood  ready  to  meet  the  other  players 
whom  the  author  would  send  upon  the  stage.  He  was 
to  pass  through  the  long  gamut  of  siren  voices  and  for 
more  than  forty  days  be  tempted  of  evil.  From  the 
paths  of  men  he  was  to  choose  his  own,  oftentimes  in 
darkness  but  rarely  in  doubt.  Already  the  things  he 
thought  and  felt  and  did  made  him  a  solitary  figure 
seeking  something  few  wanted  in  a  way  none  under- 


IN  THE  UPPER  ROOM  76 

stood.  All  things  that  he  passed  on  his  way  he  valued 
in  terms  of  that  something  ^on  a  scale  that  was  accepted 
only  here  and  there  where  a  kindred  soul  counted  his 
gold  as  gold  and  his  dross  as  dross.  He  is  already 
launched  upon  a  unique  life.  Only  time  and  the  ele- 
ments are  needed  to  mould  him  into  that  strong  and 
beautiful  figure  which  he  was  to  be. 

And  as  we  see  him  there  upon  his  knees  in  the  upper 
room,  so  quiet,  so  lonely,  the  face  of  a  little  boy  in  a 
great  city  seems  looking  down  on  him  in  wondrous  joy, 
a  little  boy  who  loved  phonography  and  rare  coins  and 
colleges  and  museums  and  libraries,  a  little  boy  whose 
lips  used  so  often  to  repeat :  "  Seekest  thou  great  things 
for  thyself  ?    Seek  them  not  I " 


YIII 
<<MY  MAEY'' 

Was  thy  wondrous  beauty  lent  me 

As  a  thing  complete,  to  charm  ? 
Or  was  mystic  meaning  sent  me 

In  the  glory  of  thine  arm  ? 
Was  a  mightier  music  meant  me 

In  the  rapture  of  thine  arm  ? 

ON  the  road  from  Laurens  to  Bethany,  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  county,  stands  the  old 
farmhouse  in  which  she  was  born.  It  is  a 
typical  southern  "  Gret  House,"  with  its  central  hall 
and  rooms  on  either  side.  To  the  left  as  you  enter  is 
the  living-room,  whose  big  open  fireplace  added  com- 
fort to  so  many  years ;  to  the  right,  the  parlour  where 
the  family  portraits  hung,  their  thoughtful  eyes  follow- 
ing you  around  the  room.  In  the  rear  of  the  former 
was  the  dining-room  with  a  kitchen  attached.  Up- 
stairs, bedrooms. 

From  the  front  piazza  a  long  straight  road,  bordered 
by  orchards  on  either  side,  led  the  eye  to  the  Bethany 
road.  There  a  little  girl  could  sit  and  watch  the  occa- 
sional traveller  going  lonely  on  his  way.  The  front 
yard  was  full  of  shrubbery,  crepe  myrtle,  weigela,  and 
the  sweet  breathed  syringa,  with  violets  and  blue  iris 
here  and  there. 

A  fence  guarded  the  yard  on  all  sides  and  by  its  posts 
76 


"MY  MARY^'  11 

in  front  of  the  house  the  bee-gums  with  their  myriad 
virgin  bands  whirred  all  summer  long  about  their  sun- 
lit task  of  gathering  sweet  nectar  from  the  flowers. 
Further  to  the  right  a  great  spreading  scuppernong  vine, 
that  had  long  since  covered  its  trellis,  bore  its  luscious 
burden  not  far  from  a  giant  oak  beneath  whose  shade 
the  teams  were  often  hitched  or  the  riding  horses 
mounted.  The  garden  lay  to  the  rear  and  a  half  dozen 
barns  and  outhouses  by  the  lot  for  the  stock.  As  one 
looked  eastward  it  could  be  seen  that  the  house  was  on 
the  crest  of  a  high  hill  from  which  a  steep  path  led 
down  to  a  spring  which  gushed  out  from  beneath  great 
rocks  and  ran  singing  away  to  the  sea. 

And  so  they  named  their  homestead  "  Coldwater." 

Here,  in  the  days  "  before  the  war,"  there  lived  a 
country  physician  and  planter.  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard, 
whose  fathers  had  received  their  land  grant  direct  from 
the  King  of  England,  and  to  him  and  his  good  wife 
there  was  born  on  October  Y,  1843,  a  little  girl  whom 
they  named  Mary  Jane. 

Then  the  years  passed  as  the  physician  went  about 
his  task  of  healing  the  sick  and  directed,  with  the  aid 
of  his  wife,  the  affairs  of  the  plantation.  Winter  and 
summer  came  with  Santa  Glaus  and  school  and  vaca- 
tion ;  spring  and  autumn  with  seed-time  and  harvest, 
until  the  little  girl  had  become  a  young  woman,  her 
school-days  at  the  Laurensville  Female  Seminary  behind 
her  and  the  high  dreams  of  womanhood  in  her  soul. 

Then  one  summer  day  the  crops  were  laid  by  and  all 
the  countryside,  saddened  by  the  gloom  of  a  failing 
cause  but  happy  in  their  season  of  social  intercourse, 
was  attending  the  "  Big  Meeting "  at  Rocky  Springs 
Church,  where  the  beloved  Rev.  Zelotes  Lee  Holmes 


rs    THE  LIFE'Or  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

(the  same  whose  missionary  effort  had  gathered  the  lit- 
tle band  who  organized  the  Clinton  Church),  was 
preaching,  aided  by  a  little  minister  who  had  but  lately 
come  to  the  community. 

On  that  day,  while  he  was  in  the  very  pulpit  itself, 
this  boy  with  the  Great  Message  saw  a  woman's  face, 
and  loved  her. 

And  when  the  sermon  was  done  he  searched  her  out 
from  the  crowd  because  he  had  seen  his  joy  in  her  eyes. 

And  when  shortly  thereafter  he  had  gone  back  to  the 
lonely  "  Upper  Koom  "  and  had  time  to  think  he  wrote 
it  all  out  in  his  diary.  He  noted  that  she  was  beauti- 
ful— and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  that 
she  was  a  teacher  in  school — and  an  elder's  daughter ; 
that  her  excellent  education  expressed  itself  in  perfect 
English — and  in  true  Christianity  ;  that  her  voice  was 
surprisingly  sweet — and  she  could  raise  tunes  in  church  ; 
that  she  was  a  fine  housekeeper  and  acquainted  with  all 
details  of  domestic  economy  (all  this  he  had  found  out 
by  a  visit  to  her  home) — and  a  member  of  the  Bible 
Class ;  that  she  played  the  piano — and  visited  the  sick  ; 
that  she  was  innocent  and  of  good  family, — and  tried 
to  curb  her  temper. 

This  was  in  August,  1864.  Afterwards  it  was  a 
swiftly  accelerating  pursuit.  Visits  to  "Coldwater" 
alternated  regularly  with  "  big  meetings "  at  Shady 
Grove  and  Duncan's  Creek.  The  great  revival  at 
Clinton  followed  shortly,  drawing  the  whole  country- 
side to  it.  He  saw  Mary  there.  But  shortly  there- 
after when  he  went  to  her  he  found  that  she  had  been 
thrown  from  a  buggy  the  day  before  and  her  shoulder 
injured.  Twice  thereafter  he  was  foiled  in  his  attempt 
to  see  her.    It  was  a  long  ride  and  there  might  be  little 


"MY  MAKy  Y9 

hope.     "  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  he  exclaimed.     "  Shall  I 
give  up  ?    No,  never ! " 

For  the  days  were  long  and  the  battle  fair.     So  the 
road  to  "  Coldwater  "  often  felt  the  hurried  hoofs  of 
his  horse.     Hope  and  despair  rode   with  him  alter- 
nately.    The  great  wonderful  thing  called  Love  had 
overwhelmed  him.     There  had  once  been  a  little  girl 
on  Edisto  Island  whom  he  had  liked  very  much  and  an- 
other in  Laurens.     Indeed,  ''  My  journal  makes  entirely 
too  many  revelations,"  he  complains.     "  It  is  a  regular 
history  of  all  my  love  scrapes.     Suppose  Mary  says 
'No'  when  I  ask    her?    I    have    had  chicken  love 
a-plenty  in  days  agone  but  this  is  the  first  time  in  my 
life  that  I  have  ever  fallen  a  victim  to  man-ly-love. 
What    a  strange  emotion  is    this.     ...     I    never 
knew  before  what  love  was.     Mary  is  everything  that 
I  could  wish,  in  health,  form,  features,  behaviour,  name, 
family,  domesticity,— there  is  absolutely  nothing  more 
that  I  could  desire.     In  piety,  education,  manners,  she 
satisfies  me  entirely.     ...     If  she  gives    me  the 
word  of  welcome  then,  Mary  Dillard,  you  will  have 
one  heart  to  love  you  better  than  you  were  ever  loved 
before." 

And  God  who,  following  His  ancient  custom,  had 
created  his  hopes  that  they  might  be  gratified,  pros- 
pered his  journey.  After  January  the  twenty-sixth, 
1865,  he  could  write  happily,  "  My  Mary." 

For  he  knew  the  Giver.  "  God  has  blessed  me,"  he 
exclaims,  «  more  than  I  could  have  hoped  ;  He  has  grat- 
ified my  most  earnest  wishes.  Indeed  I  feel  that  He 
has  made  the  whole  thing  to  come  out  just  as  it  has. 
I  trust  Him,  I  love  Him  the  more  for  it.  And  then 
,  Mary,  she  is  so  good,  so  everything  that  I  want.     My 


80    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

greatest  wonder  is  that  she  ever  did  say  '  yes.'  Oh, 
God,  consummate  this  union  and  pour  out  Thy  blessing 
upon  it." 

There  you  have  the  heart  of  the  man.  And  here : — 
*'  To-night  I  am  to  be  married.  .  .  .  God  who 
has  given  me  the  gift  will,  I  trust,  make  me  worthy  of 
her.  I  would  have  His  love  to  be  the  chief  link  be- 
tween us  so  that  Heaven  will  be  evermore  desirable." 

Who  else  would  have  thought  of  that,  then  ? 

"  My  thoughts  are  all  of  Mary,"  he  writes.  "  No 
earthly  object  shall  be  superior,  or  is  now,  in  my  affec- 
tions, to  her.  It  may  be  that  God  shall  allot  to  us  a 
life  of  suffering  and  pain.  If  hers  be  the  lot  to  suffer, 
God  give  me  the  power  to  be  to  her  kind,  sympathizing 
and  affectionate.  If  mine,  I  know  the  tenderest  care 
will  be  bestowed  upon  me." 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1865,  the  night  on  which  offi- 
cial news  of  General  Lee's  surrender  was  received,  they 
were  married  at  Cold  water.  As  the  division  of  their 
country  ended  they  were  united.  It  was  almost  wel- 
come news  to  the  war-stricken  South  that  did  not  know 
how  dark  a  night  of  Reconstruction  they  were  enter- 
ing— in  April  too,  when  the  wood-thrush  had  but  lately 
returned  to  his  valley,  flying  over  the  great  Southern 
Gulf  to  do  it,  when  joy  was  athrob  in  the  song  of  the 
polyglot  mime  of  the  tree  top,  and  all  Heaven  breathed 
from  the  crimson  azalea  and  the  pink  crab-apple  bough. 
Down  the  long  lane  from  the  road  to  little  Bethany 
the  guests  came,  "  Brothers  Arbuthnot  and  Todd "  of 
seminary  memory  and  "  Jim  Sloan  and  John  Dillard  " 
(her  brother) — these  were  his  attendants,  and  her  sister 
Sallie  with  Maggie  Pitts  and  Lucy  Byrd  and  Annie, 
these  were  hers.     His  father  came  from  Laurens  to 


Mary  Dillard  Jacobs 


«  MY  MAEY  "  81 

perform  the  ceremony  and  thereafter  Mary  belonged 
to  him  and  he  to  her. 

So  they  go  to  rent  a  little  home  from  Mr.  Bell,  con- 
secrating it  with  holy  prayer,  deep  faith,  and  high 
hope  as  the  pillars  of  State  fall  about  them  and  their 
tiny  village  trembled  under  the  shock.  But,  after  all, 
their  search  was  for  a  city,  not  made  with  hands,  eter- 
nal in  the  heavens. 

Many  long  years  afterwards,  when  the  little  minister 
and  his  sweetheart  lay  side  by  side  in  the  village  grave- 
yard and  all  the  anxieties  of  earthly  love  were  over, 
they  found  a  faded  package  of  old  love-letters  in  the 
drawer  of  his  desk  in  his  office.  The  few  letters  that 
she  had  written  him  before  their  marriage  were  there 
and  among  them  the  very  first  in  which  she  had  dared 
to  call  him  "  Dear  Willie  "  and  sign  herself,  "  Your 
Mary,"  **  Again,"  she  wrote  him,  "  I  find  that  I  have 
undertaken  the  task  of  writing  to  one  that  is  dearer 
than  all  others,  yes,  dearer  than  life  itself,  and  yet  I 
fear  that  you  will  doubt  what  1  have  just  said, — no  you 
will  not  doubt  it,  for  you  know  that  you  have  the  un- 
divided love  of  Mary  and  have  promised  to  believe  all 
that  she  says.  .  .  .  Can  it  be  possible  that  I 
merit  such  love  as  is  bestowed  on  me  ?  A  voice  from 
within  whispers  '  unworthy,'  but  I  trust,  one  of  these 
days,  to  prove  to  you  that  I  am  worthy  of  it." 

With  such  sweet  and  quiet  dignity  she  took  her  place 
by  his  side. 


IX 

THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH 

A  few  more  steps !     Ah,  this  the  wondrous  stone 
With  which  a  thousand  battles  have  been  won ; 

The  rounding  of  a  hill,  a  corner  turned, 

And  lo,  the  world  is  changed,  the  darkness  gone ! 

EPICTETUS  used  to  define  difficulties  as  the 
things  that  show  what  men  are.  "  Have  this 
thought  ever  present  with  thee,"  he  would  say, 
"  when  thou  losest  any  outward  thing,  what  thou  gain- 
est  in  its  stead ;  and  if  this  be  the  more  precious,  say 
not,  I  have  suffered  loss." 

It  is  a  singular  and  meaningful  fact  that  the  spiritual 
experiences  of  all  creators  are  the  same.  Those  who 
build  pass  through  the  like  vicissitudes.  The}^  have 
the  same  friends — courage,  faith,  hope ;  and  the  same 
enemies — fear,  jealousy,  dismay.  This  is  the  reason 
why  a  great  good  man  is  so  rich  a  gift  of  God.  His 
life  is  a  parable,  a  deed-prophecy  to  all  who  would  fol- 
low his  example.  The  story  of  it  speaks  a  word  in 
season  to  him  who  is  weary.  Their  victories  shine 
like  stars  at  the  crossing  of  the  ways.  Their  experi- 
ences induce  faith  in  the  theory  that  the  sun  will  rise 
after  the  darkest  night.  The  circumstances  may  be 
different,  the  figures  larger  or  smaller  but  the  battle  is 
won  along  the  same  line  and  the  soul-struggle  of  the 
stone  mason  is  the  same  as  that  of  him  who  builds  with 
brick. 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  83 

So  it  happens  that  in  every  good  novel  there  is  a 
dark  chapter. 

The  story  of  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  from  the  year  1865  to 
1872  is  the  story  of  a  man  fighting  for  his  life.  It  was 
a  period  of  loss  and  the  slow  desolation  of  reconstruc- 
tion, of  delayed  hopes  and  increasing  difficulties.  In 
that  period  he  learned  the  meaning  of  patience  and  for 
years  stood  face  to  face  with  failure. 

So  a  great  door  and  effectual  was  opened  to  him — 
for  there  were  many  adversaries.  It  was  the  great 
period  of  his  life  and  at  the  end  of  it  he  did  the  great 
deed  of  his  life. 

It  is  as  if  he  had  written  on  every  page  of  his  diary 
during  those  long  bleak  years  the  inscription  he  penned 
on  another  day.  "  A  memorable  day,  a  day  of  sorrow 
— of  unutterable  anguish — a  day  of  agony — of  work — 
of  vows.  Thank  God  for  this  day — thank  God  for  this 
day — thank  Him,  thank  Him ! " 

They  rented  the  Bell  house  and  before  they  had 
finished  its  repairing  dedicated  it  to  God.  "  I  will  try 
in  every  way,"  he  planned,  "  to  make  my  family  a 
model  for  Christianity,  morality,  punctuality,  regu- 
larity, industry.  Mary  is  of  the  same  opinion  and  of 
course  it  depends  only  upon  us  whether  it  shall  be  so 
or  not.  She  is  a  jewel  of  a  wife.  I  sit  here  and  look 
at  her  sweet  face  and  industrious  fingers  and  thank 
God  for  such  a  treasure.  The  blessings  of  Heaven  rest 
upon  thee,  Mary  !  " 

But  outside  the  day  was  dark.  The  state  of  the 
country  was  one  of  utter  paralysis.  The  war  had 
ceased,  he  had  taken  the  oath  and  was  striving  to  do 
his  duty  as  a  faithful  citizen  of  the  United  States.  In 
December,  '65,  they  moved  to  another  house,  E.  G. 


84   THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Copeland's,  "  right  under  Mr.  Phinney's  nose."  As  the 
year  closed  he  bravely  hoped  that  Clinton  was  improv- 
ing and  listed  her  stores  and  shops. 

Then  came  1866.  As  it  opened  he  laid  his  plans  and 
two  months  later  became  an  editor,  founding  the  True 
Witness  and  setting  up  the  first  printing  press  in 
Clinton.  In  this,  his  brother  Ripley  came  to  help  him. 
He  still  is  working  for  the  church  benevolences,  the 
male  academy,  the  public  library  and  the  coloured 
church.  He  puts  the  "  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society  "  on 
foot.  He  is  offered  an  A.  M.  by  Charleston  College 
and  thinks  of  going  to  get  it.  Clinton  becomes  an  in- 
corporated town  once  more,  and  he  thinks  the  railroad 
is  reviving.  For  six  months  it  had  been  utterly  dead. 
Negro  riots  have  begun,  the  crops  are  poor  and  war  has 
broken  out  in  Europe.  In  the  midst  of  this  he  writes  : 
"  God  has  blessed  my  family.  On  the  1 1th  of  April  a 
dear  little  cherub  was  added  to  our  fold.  God  bless 
our  little  Florence  Lee.  She  is  pretty  and  good." 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  he  and  the  mother  and 
child  made  an  overland  trip  to  Washington,  Georgia, 
to  see  his  father  who  had  accepted  the  presidency  of 
the  female  seminary  there.  Upon  his  return  he  con- 
tinued the  protracted  meeting  begun  before  he  left. 
"Forty  more  have  professed  conversion,"  he  exulted, 
"  and  of  these  many  gray-haired  men.  On  Thursday 
night  all  the  new  converts  sat  down  at  the  Lord's 
table.  Heaven  came  down  to  earth  and  dwelt  among 
us.  ...  I  failed  to  go  to  Synod  this  year.  Cause, 
without  the  means.  Thus  has  God  brought  me  to  the 
end  of  1866." 

The  same  dun  landscape  framed  the  story  of  the  fol- 
lowing year.    In  March  he  received  his  A.  M.  degree 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  85 

from  his  Alma  Mater.  In  April  Presbytery  met  with 
him.  In  May  the  Ti'ue  Witness  becomes  the  Farm  and 
Garden.  In  June  his  garden  was  said  to  be  the  best  in 
Clinton.  He  was  sick  almost  all  of  August.  In  De- 
cember came  a  death  and  a  marriage.  The  marriage 
was  performed  by  himself,  being  that  of  his  sister-in- 
law,  Sallie  Dillard  to  Bob  Kichardson,  "and  dear 
mother,  Mary's  mother,  whom  I  loved  next  to  my  own 
sainted  mother,  passed  into  Eternal  Life." 

When  the  New  Year  came  it  found  the  world  still  in 
turmoil.  Indeed  he  was  so  distressed  that  he  expressed 
the  wish  to  leave  America  if  possible.  But  he  de- 
clined a  call  to  Albany,  Ga.,  saying  that  he  could  not 
leave  his  people,  and  in  July  he  began  the  erection  of 
the  first  two-storied  house  in  Clinton. 

Faith  is  most  needed  in  the  dark. 

So  1869  came  and  we  get  a  picture  of  him  as  he  toils 
onward  in  the  night : 

*'  I  write  from  home,  my  own  home,  the  home  of  my 
dear  wife  and  children — for  God  has  blessed  me  with 
another  child,  little  Eugene  Ferdinand,  now  four  months 
old. 

"  I  write  from  home,  for  I  have  built  a  home,  have 
dedicated  it  to  God  and  I  am  in  my  study  surrounded 
with  books  and  papers.  Ought  I  not  to  be  contented 
and  happy? 

"My  family  is  full— father  and  mother,  son  and 
daughter,  Ripley  and  Minnie,— yes,  little  Sissie,  now  a 
young  lady  of  nineteen,  is  with  me,  and  will  probably 
stay  all  the  year.  I  have  just  brought  her  from  Co- 
lumbia (February  9th),  where  I  spent  an  exceedingly 
pleasant  day  in  Dr.  Adger's  house.  I  visited  Dr. 
Plumer  and  Dr.  Woodrow.     I  have  also  George  May — 


86    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

my  little  farmer,  and  Sallie  Dillard,  my  little  help  and 
companion.     God  help  me  to  be  just  to  them. 

"  The  Farm  and  Garden  has  entered  upon  its  fourth 
volume — prosperously.  I  am  becoming  encouraged 
about  it  and  am  determined  to  give  it  as  high  a  stand 
as  I  can. 

"My  churches — Clinton  Church  has  recently  been 
beautifully  fitted  up,  new  pews,  curtains,  lamps,  carpet. 
It  is  as  neat  as  a  pin,  I  still  preach  at  Bethany  and 
Shady  Grove,  but  my  principal  labour  is  in  Clinton. 
Prayer-meeting  every  Thursday  evening.  Preaching 
every  Sabbath  night.  Session  meeting  once  a  month. 
Preaching  and  Sabbath  School  and  Bible  Class  every 
second  and  fourth  Sabbath.  I  am  about  to  begin  to 
preach  to  the  negroes  once  a  month  in  the  afternoon." 

By  December,  1869,  he  had  resigned  both  Shady 
Grove  and  Duncan's  Creek  and  was  giving  his  whole 
time  to  Clinton.  He  thinks  the  town  is  improving  and 
conditions  getting  better. 

"  I  am  gratified  with  the  improved  condition  of  our 
Sunday  School.  It  is  the  Church.  I  accomplished  as 
much  by  it  as  by  the  sanctuary.  Lord  Jesus,  let  Thy 
showers  fall  on  it  also. 

"  I  think  our  negro  church  will  be  built  this  fall 
We  have  bought  a  lot  just  out  of  the  town  and  hope 
to  build  this  fall.  When  I  get  in  it  then  my  next  effort 
shall  be  a  church  library;  or  at  any  rate  a  library 
association  for  Clinton.  And  after  I  get  it  under  way 
I  think  we  can  build  up  the  'Clinton  Presbyterian 
Academy.' " 

Hope  deferred  had  not  made  his  heart  sick. 

But  the  darkness  grew  denser.  "Poor  little  Clin- 
ton," he  exclaimed,  in  1870,  "  what  is  to  be  done  for 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH 


87 


her  ?  We  are  distressed  and  harassed  on  every  side. 
The  present  political  disturbance  is  greatly  against  us. 
Can  I  do  nothing  for  the  advancement  of  Clinton? 
Every  man  must  live  for  something.  I  have  hardly 
any  plan  before  me  in  life.  Is  not  this  the  cause  of 
my  disquiet  and  unrest  ?  Oh,  my  soul,  what  means 
this  sadness  ? 

**  These  are  stormy  days  wherein  we  dwell.     Last 


The  Clinton  of  1870. 

night  after  the  sweet  pleasure  of  the  Holy  Sabbath  we 
were  startled  by  rumours  of  an  attack  on  Clinton  by 
the  negroes,  two  hundred  of  whom  had  gathered  at  the 
mill,  entered  Joe  Crews'  armoury  and  armed  themselves. 
The  whites  assembled  at  West's  store  to  the  number  of 
seventy-five,  and  having  armed  themselves  awaited  the 
attack.  The  poor  women  were  scared  half  to  death 
and  many  of  them  assembled  at  Mrs.  Phinney's  for 
protection.  By  God's  good  providence  a  collision  has 
been  thus  far  averted.     But  the  races  are  in  a  highly 


88    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

excited  state  and  I  fear  that  evil  will  yet  result 
from  it. 

"August  21st.  We  have  had  a  time  of  it.  The 
whole  cause  of  the  fracas  was  the  collision  of  a  party 
of  white  and  coloured  men  near  Clinton  on  Saturday 
night.  The  negroes  fired  on  the  white  men.  Their 
fire  was  returned  and  four  were  wounded.  The 
negroes  quickly  assembled  at  the  mill  with  four 
days'  rations.  A  difficulty  had  also  occurred  at 
Chappells.  But  Sheriff  Paysinger  with  a  company  of 
one  hundred  men  captured  sixty  negroes  there  without 
bloodshed.  The  whites  immediately  began  to  assemble 
at  Clinton  and  by  eleven  o'clock  yesterday  over  a 
thousand  men  had  assembled  on  the  public  square, 
whereat  the  negroes  became  very  much  alarmed  and 
agreed  to  go  home  and  behave  themselves.  By  night, 
however,  a  hundred  negroes  had  again  collected,  the 
whites  having  dispersed,  but  they  were  notified  by  the 
guard  of  fifty  whites  who  had  been  left  in  town  that 
they  would  all  be  arrested  unless  they  dispersed  im- 
mediately, and  they  immediately  began  to  scatter.  So 
ends  the  affair,  I  trust.  They  have  threatened  to  make 
a  San  Domingo  of  South  Carolina,  but  no  San  Domingo 
here !  " 

In  September  Dr.  Henry  died.  "  Clinton  has  lost  its 
best  elder,"  he  wrote,  "  and  I  my  best  friend." 

And  in  October  he  exclaims  in  dismay,  "  Our  rail- 
road has  stopped  ! " 

Afterv»^ards  came  the  climax.  At  the  election  on 
October  19th  the  negroes  were  accused  of  cheating, 
Yiolence  followed.  The  citizenship  flew  to  arms. 
Strong  men  seized  the  guns  of  the  negro  militiamen. 
The  ofiice  of  the  notorious  Joe   Crews  was  torn  to 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  89 

pieces.  A  reign  of  terror  followed.  The  Eadical 
probate  judge  was  found  dead  at  Milton's  trestle,  be- 
tween Laurens  and  Clinton,  and  a  coloured  member  of 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives  at  Martin's  Depot.  In 
the  Eocky  Spring  neighbourhood  two  negroes  were 
killed.  "  Oh,  wretched  country,"  he  mourned,  "  how 
terrible  is  this  condition,  violence,  anarchy,  civil  war ! 
I  know  not  what  to  think,  much  less  to  do.  The  end 
is  not  yet.  I  fear  this  is  but  the  beginning.  Our 
whole  land  is  thoroughly  demoralized !  .  .  .  This 
poor  little  town  is  growing  gradually  less  and  less. 
Oh,  God  send  us  help  for  Ciiurch  and  State  ! " 

Then  he  starts  a  PJionograjphio  Magazine  to  help  his 
brother  Eipley.  He  is  called  to  Anderson  but  says : 
"  I  cannot  leave  Clinton." 

But  the  sweet  face  of  his  Mary  was  near  and  little 
Florence  was  "  singing  all  around  the  yard  '  God  save 
me ' " — he  could  trust  in  God. 

So  when  the  first  Sabbath  of  the  year  1871  dawned 
it  found  him  in  his  little  pulpit  preaching  on  the  text 
"  Brethren,  stand  fast ! "  The  railroad  was  uncon- 
scious, being  nothing  more  than  a  streak  of  abandoned 
rust,  but  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Joe  Crews  say- 
ing that  as  he  was  a  young  man  he  might  live  to  see  it 
built.  He  himself  was  "Whistling  to  keep  up  his 
courage  '^  for  he  admits  that  he  is  badly  discouraged 
and  faces  the  possibilities  of  giving  up.  Early  in  '71 
sixteen  men  were  taken  from  jail  and  hanged  in  Union. 
"  God  help  our  poor  land  !  "  he  exclaimed.  In  October 
President  Grant  proclaimed  Laurens  County  to  be  in  a 
state  of  insubordination  and  KuKluxism  and  threat- 
ened them  with  martial  law.  The  great  fear  con- 
tinually grew  in  his   heart  that  he  might  be  forced 


90    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

to  leave  Clinton.  The  population  of  the  tiny  village 
steadily  lessened  and  all  things  seemed  hopeless. 

Such  was  the  great  hour  of  his  life,  the  hour  than 
which  none  had  a  finer  spiritual  value.  Step  by  step 
he  was  being  brought  to  the  supreme  test  as  if  Some 
One  were  trying  to  taste  of  his  spirit  to  find  out  what 
quality  He  might  expect  of  it  in  the  long  years  to 
come. 

His  little  town  had  a  total  white  population  of  all 
sizes  and  sexes  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six.  As  he 
counted  them  all  up  in  his  note-book  he  remarked, 
"  The  town  has  been  at  a  standstill  with  premonitory 
symptoms  of  galloping  consumption."  He  knew  him- 
self to  be  "  surrounded  by  an  uncommonly  demoralized 
state  of  affairs,"  so  he  called  upon  himself  "  to  make 
this  year  one  of  unprecedented  toil."  He  toiled  cease- 
lessly, reaching  constantly  for  a  heavier  hammer.  His 
is  a  story  of  a  man  exceedingly  anxious  about  the  de- 
tails of  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  In  the 
midst  of  all  his  darkness  he  was  called  to  Good  Hope, 
Alabama,  on  a  salary  nearly  double  what  he  was 
getting. 

That  was  the  crisis. 

Here  was  a  young  man,  efficient,  popular,  laborious, 
a  student  and  excellent  preacher,  being  constantly 
"  called  "  to  "  better  "  fields. 

Here  was  a  village,  retrograding  with  no  improve- 
ment to  be  seen  anywhere  as  it  passed  through  days  of 
utter  dullness.  "  Her  streets  are  deserted,"  he  wrote, 
"  the  stores  have  no  customers,  families  speak  of  mov- 
ing away.  I  feel  convinced  that  all  or  nearly  all  of 
those  I  love  the  best  will  be  gone  by  another  year.  Is 
it  my  duty  to  remain  when  in  all  probability  it  will  be- 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  91 

come  impossible  to  support  my  family  here  another 
year  ?  I  leav  e  this  matter  entirely  to  Thee,  my  Heavenly 
Father.  My  wish  is  to  remain  here.  God  has  pros- 
pered my  work.  My  church  has  been  built  up  but  now 
it  all  looks  as  if  it  were  going  to  ruin." 

And  here  was  a  church  barely  able  to  pay  him  his 
seven  hundred  dollars  per  year  irregularly,  though  the 
minutes  of  his  Presbytery  showed  that  it  stood  fourth 
on  the  list  as  regards  members  received  ;  ninth  in  total 
of  communicants  (omitting  negro  members;  counting 
them— third) ;  first  in  number  of  infants  baptized ;  third 
in  amount  actually  paid  the  pastor ;  and  eighth  in  aver- 
age per  capita  of  money  given.  Seven  years  before  it 
had  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  list. 

And  there  were  his  family — a  wife  and  two  little 
children  to  be  considered,  and  in  this  very  year  he  writes : 

"  March  8th :  At  four  o'clock  this  afternoon  another 
responsibility  was  placed  upon  my  shoulders.  A  little 
boy,  nameless,  but  not  friendless,  found  his  way  through 
much  tribulation  into  this  wide  strange  world."  Then 
he  added,  in  verse  : 

'^  Eest,  little  one, 
Upon  thy  mother's  bosom,  pure  and  white  ; 
Clutch  it  with  little  nails  that  glisten  bright ; 

It  is  thy  throne. 
No  king  in  royal  robe  delighteth  more, 
Than  thou  dost  in  its  boundless  luscious  store. 

"  God  bless  thee,  child  ! 
And  may  thy  mother,  who  in  pain  did  give 
Thee  life,  aye,  a  full  thousand  fold  receive, 

Thou  undefiled  ! 
Full  recompense  of  love  for  all  her  woe. 
Which,  little  debtor,  thou  to  her  dost  owe.'^ 


92    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  Dear  Lord,  bless  this  little  one  and  may  he  be  a 
child  after  Thine  own  heart." 

So  he  found  his  problem  on  his  knees. 

And  it  was  as  if  Some  One  whispered  in  his  heart, 
"  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?  Seek  them 
not ! " 

"  I  believe  that  God  has  a  purpose  in  locating  me  in 
Clinton,"  he  concluded,  ''  and  I  am  determined  to  work 
it  out.  This  little  church  may  yet  be  a  center  of  Pres- 
byterian influence.  Oh,  that  I  had  strength  for  the 
work  before  me.  I  live  for  labour.  It  may  be  that  an 
impetus  may  be  given  to  things  in  this  locality  during 
the  next  year — this  is  a  fine  center  for  work.  I  am  in 
hope  that  it  will  grow  to  be  a  considerable  place  yet. 
God  grant  it.  If  so,  I  will  never  expect  to  leave  it,  but 
to  labour  here  till  I  die." 

"They  w^ho  sigh  for  a  larger  field  of  labour,"  he 
adds,  "  do  not  properly  take  care  of  the  little  field  they 
already  have.  Make  your  field  larger  and  more  at- 
tractive, my  dear  sir,  and  study  more,  visit  more,  write 
more,  pray  more.  You  are  in  great  want,  but  action, 
energy,  faith,  perseverance  are  the  main  things  you 
need.  I  have  declined  the  call  to  Good  Hope  Church. 
For  thee,  dear,  dying  Clinton,  let  me  now  labour  with 
untiring  exertion." 

This  is  the  flower  in  the  crannied  wall  which  if  any 
man  understands  all  in  all  he  knows  *'  what  God  and 
man  is." 

And  he  knew  when  he  made  that  decision  that 
it  was  the  "  moving  choice  of  his  life."  All  that  came 
afterwards  was  but  a  commentary  upon  it.  Each  deed, 
each  fight,  each  defeat,  each  victory,  each  thought,  each 
feeling  of  his  soul  was  but  an  illustration  of  it. 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  93 

So  day  by  day  he  planned  and  toiled.  Here  is  the 
story  of  such  a  day ; 

He  rose  early,  built  fire,  attended  to  horse  and  other 
stock.  Read  (Greek)  Testament,  Hebrews  8-9  ;  Phono- 
graphic Bible,  1  Cor.  1-5 ;  Hebrew,  Esther  9 ;  Syriac, 
John  9 : 1-10 ;  Latin,  first  eclogue  in  Yirgil,  three  pages 
in  (German)  "  Maid  of  Orleans,"  wrote  up  session-book, 
note-book  and  journal.  Read  fifty  pages  in  Osborne's 
"  Palestine,"  visited  Miss  Sallie's  school,  hired  freedmen 
for  next  year.  After  dinner :  Read  twenty -four  pages 
PhonographiG  Correspondent^  rode  up  to  Geo.  P.  Cope- 
land's  and  had  a  pleasant  chat  with  Miss  Mary  and 
Louis  Bell.  Interviewed  Brother  McKittrick.  After 
supper  read  the  Home  Journal^  thirty  pages  of  Phono- 
graphic Correspondent,  two  of  Bacon's  *  Essays  in 
Phonography,'  family  worship  ;  retired." 

And  in  that  hour  of  desolation  and  black  hopelessness 
he  did  his  great  deed,  sprung  from  his  great  thought, 
fired  by  his  great  feeling.  It  is  embodied  in  the  last 
couplet  of  a  few  lines  of  poetry  he  penned  in  that  dull 
November : 

^*  In  Thee,  oh,  Lord,  I  trust, 
My  shield  art  Thou,  my  stay, 
Man  boasts  j— his  strength  is  dust, 
But  Thou  art  life  alway. 
In  Thee,  oh,  Lord,  I  live, 
I  have  no  stay  but  Thee. 
My  solace  in  deep  grief, 
Thy  hand,  it  raiseth  me. 
Oh,  stay  by  me,  my  Lord, 
Each  hour  my  strength  renew, 
Defend  me  with  Thy  sword, 
Me  with  thyself  imbue. 


94    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Thank  God,  He  knows  my  name, 
Thank  God,  He  hears  my  prayer, 
Now  let  my  tongue  cry,  shame  ! 
Up,  man  !    In  God's  strength,  dare." 

It  did  not  matter  to  Him  who  waited  for  that  resolu- 
tion which  of  many  tasks  he  should  pursue.  He  had 
been  tested.     Things  would  now  happen. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  way  they  began.  The 
month  before  he  had  written  in  his  diary  : 

"  'Nqw  improvements— a  fence  around  the  Methodist 
Church,  work  on  my  house,  new  steps  to  Copeland's 
store  and  the  lodge,  a  new  kitchen  at  Charlie  Frank- 
lin's. 

"  September  5th.  The  Laurens  people  say  they  are 
going  to  build  a  railroad  from  Laurensville  to  Augusta 
and  throw  away  ours  altogether.  If  so,  good-bye 
Clinton.  It  is  not  altogether  certain,  however,  that 
talking  about  a  thing  accomplishes  it.  I  still  live  in 
hope,  although  Clinton  is  surely  and  rapidly  wearing 
away.  We  need  something  to  revive  us  and  I  do  not 
know  any  help  for  it  save  the  L.  R.  R." 

This  was  in  September.  On  November  26th  he 
penned  these  memorable  lines : 

*'  I  have  a  project  in  my  head  which,  like  many  other 
projects,  is,  I  fear,  to  be  finally  unsuccessful.  I  propose 
the  establishment  of  an  orphan  asylum  under  the  care 
of  the  South  Carolina  Synod,  the  same  to  be  placed 
here  and  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  Presbyterians  of 
South  Carolina.  If  I  were  a  man  of  faith  and  energy 
I  could  easily  carry  it  into  effect,  but  as  I  am  only  a 
little  man,  with  hardly  zeal  enough  for  my  daily  avoca- 
tions, were  I  to  undertake  it  it  would  be  a  signal  fail- 


THE  MIDNIGHT  WATCH  95 

Three  days  later  he  had  declined  the  call  to  Good 
Hope  and  taken  up  his  task  anew  in  Clinton. 

And  as  he  went  on  his  way,  the  a»gels  of  God  met 
him. 

The  turn  of  the  year  came.  Eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-two  passed.     His  birthday  dawned. 

"March  15th.  Thirty  years  old  to-day,"  he  writes. 
"  Realize  it,  I  cannot.  How  time  flies  and  how  little 
have  I  accomplished — nothing  absolutely.  I  have 
made  for  myself  no  name — I  have  done  still  less  for 
God — nothing  as  I  ought.  No,  let  me  not  talk  in  this 
strain.  I  can  never  become  great.  I  have  not  the 
talent  of  a  leader.  I  must  abide  here  in  faith  and 
patience  and  fill  the  little  place  that  God  has  bidden  me 
occupy.  The  smallest  screw  is  of  vast  consequence  in 
a  great  and  complicated  piece  of  machinery.  How  do 
I  know  but  that  I  am  such  a  screw  ?  I  once  thought 
that  I  would  become  great.  Good-bye  forever  to  such 
folly.  I  now  trust  that  in  quiet  God  may  allow  me  to 
do  in  this  retired  place  much  towards  building  up  this 
little  village  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  In 
some  mysterious  way  He  brought  me  to  Clinton,  has 
bound  me  to  it,  and  I  will  bide  His  time  in  patience. 
Was  a  little  inconsequential  village  ever  yet  raised  into 
notoriety  and  importance  through  the  talents  and 
labours  of  one  man  ?  Hie  labour,  hoc  opus  est— but  is 
it  not  a  noble  thing  to  do  ?  May  not  he  say  with  just 
pride — '  Exegi  monumentum  aere  perennius,'  who,  by 
his  own  God-blessed  efforts,  builds  up  a  church,  estab- 
lishes a  fountain  of  Christian  life,  reclaims  a  village 
and  raises  it  to  a  standard  of  liberal  enlightenment.  I 
cannot  do  much,  but  cannot  I  set  others  to  work,  not 
all  in  one  day  but  gradually,  until  at  last  Clinton  be- 


96    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

comes  a  center  of  refinement  and  true  life.  Sursum 
corda  !     God  help  me." 

There  is  someChiug  about  leadership  that  requires  an 
abandonment  of  self^a  renunciation  of  ideas  of  great- 
ness or  any  other  form  of  personal  advantage.  The 
besetting  sin  of  the  mighty  is  to  love  glory.  This  man 
had  once  thought  that  he  would  become  great  and  had 
now  bidden  good-bye  to  such  folly.  This  renunciation 
was  the  finishing  touch  to  his  character.  It  was  the 
final  element  needed. 

He  thereby  became  great. 

This  is  a  very  paradox  of  God. 


X 

THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THII^GS 

So  this  I  grave  that  they  who  read  may  know  : 
Wherein  I  struck  for  that  whereof  I  dreamed, 

Yet  dreamed  I  not,  nor  struck,  to  all  that  seemed 
This  is  the  key :  His  will  hath  made  it  so ! 

THE  inability  of  the  human  mind  to  think  fur- 
ther is  called  infinity. 
As  we  walk  about  the  earth  one  thousand 
miles  seems  a  long  distance,  and  twenty-live  thousand 
miles,  the  girdle  of  the  earth,  very  far  indeed.  But 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  miles,  the  distance  to 
the  moon,  opens  the  door  to  space  and  ninety-three  mil- 
lions of  miles,  the  distance  to  the  sun,  has  already 
passed  our  real  comprehension.  Light,  that  travels  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  thousand  miles  per  second,  can 
bridge  that  immense  gap  in  only  eight  minutes,  yet  the 
nearest  of  our  stars,  Alpha  Centauri,  is  so  far  away 
that  it  takes  between  three  and  four  years  for  its  beams 
to  reach  us.  This  from  our  neighbour  in  space.  For 
the  others  in  our  universe  the  Universal  Wisdom  alone 
knows  how  many  centuries  would  be  required. 

And  beyond  our  universe,  what  ?  Dim  clusters  of 
suns,  such  as  M.  13  in  Hercules,  other  universes  light- 
ing the  byways  of  God  in  His  infinity. 

The  tiny  speck  of  dust  that  settles  on  your  coat 
seems  pitifully  little  by  comparison.     But  it  is  not. 

If  for  the  telescope,  the  eye  that  sees  afar,  we  sub- 

97 


98    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

stitute  the  microscope,  the  eye  that  sees  near,  we  are 
astonished  to  find  that  we  are  not  at  one  end  but  in  the 
center  of  infinity,  "  whose  center  is  everywhere  and 
whose  circumference  nowhere."  He  who  first  turns  his 
view  on  the  infinitely  little  as  he  first  upon  the  infi- 
nitely large,  exclaims  with  Keats  : 

"Then  felt  I  like  some  watcher  of  the  skies 
When  a  ecw  planet  swims  into  his  ken  ; 
Or  like  stout  Cortez  when,  with  eagle  eyes, 
He  stared  on  the  Pacific,  and  all  his  men 
Looked  at  each  other  with  a  wild  surmise 
Silent  upon  a  peak  in  Darien. " 

For  the  astonishing  fact  is  that  nothing  is  little.  A 
lens  makes  a  planet  of  a  grain  of  sand  and  a  larger  lens 
reveals  an  atom  as  a  solar  system  its  ions  revolving 
around  their  central  sun.  That  which  lies  within  is  as 
illimitable  as  that  which  lies  beyond.  If  beyond  the 
violet  He  rays  no  eye  may  see,  so  lie  others  within  the 
red.  If  the  world  is  full  of  notes  above  the  highest 
earthly  treble,  so  is  it  with  others  below  the  lowest 
earthly  bass.  There  is  nothing  little,  not  even  the  day 
of  small  things. 

The  young  minister  of  Clinton  had  ceased  his  pursuit 
of  Greatness  and  was  content  to  paint  the  scene  from 
his  own  doorway,  to  look  into  his  own  heart  and  write. 
Kot  that  all  trouble  ceased.  On  the  contrary  the 
"  KuKlux  Persecution  "  continued,  coming  to  a  climax 
in  the  arrest  and  deportation  to  Columbia  for  trial  of  a 
dozen  or  more  of  his  little  flock.  After  so  long  a  time 
they  were  released,  but  not  without  great  disturbance 
of  conditions  in  the  village  and  many  anxious  months. 
He  followed  his  prisoners  to  their  jail,  to  comfort  and 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  99 

pray  with  them,  and  considered  that  day  was  breaking 
when  they  returned  safely  home. 

But  early  in  1872  Dr.  T.  J.  Boozer,  a  praying  elder, 
moved  to  Clinton,  and  shortly  afterwards  Mrs.  Jones 
and  Miss  Amanda  Ferguson,  indicating  a  turn  in  that 
distressing  tide  which  had  borne  so  many  of  his  people 
westward.  His  heart  beat  faster  at  the  thought  of  this 
and  took  courage  to  suggest  that  the  time  was  ripe 
for  the  establishment  of  a  "Male  College,  i.e.^  High 
School "  in  Clinton. 

Our  Monthly,  the  successor  to  his  little  Farm  and 
Garden,  he  now  made  more  purely  religious  and  soon 
lie  was  trusting  and  thanking  God  that  it  had  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  subscribers.  There  was  soon  a 
report  that  the  railroad  might  rise  from  the  dead,  and 
after  a  while  the  post-office  was  reopened  so  that  Clin- 
ton could  have  her  daily  mail.  This  was  in  June,  the 
month  he  resolved  to  visit  every  member  of  his  congre- 
gation and  "  talk  up  "  three  great  plans :  first,  the  divi- 
sion of  South  Carolina  Presbytery;  second,  the  high 
school;  and  third,  the  orphan  asylum.  Good  things 
kept  happening.  Mr.  Green  began  running  his  mill 
again.  His  church  could  make  an  improved  report. 
He  gratefully  recorded  that  "  By  the  Minutes  of  Pres- 
bytery just  published  the  Clinton  Church  stands  fourth 
in  number  of  members  received  last  year,  twelfth  in 
total  membership,  sixth  in  number  of  children  in  Sun- 
day School,  second  in  funds  given  for  education,  first 
in  number  of  children  baptized,  fourth  (with  township) 
in  salary,  ninth  in  total  amount  contributed,  seventh  in 
average  per  capita,  and  was  the  only  one  which  filled 
up  every  blank  in  the  statistical  report.  Pretty  good 
for  the  church  that  eight  years  ago  stood  about  at  the 


100  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

bottom  of  the  list  of  the  fifty-six  churches  in  nearly 
everything." 

Then  the  Clinton  High  School  Association  was  or- 
ganized with  property  to  begin  on  worth  a  thousand 
dollars,  and  three  hundred  dollars  subscribed  to  improve 
the  building. 

Nichols  Holmes  accepted  the  principalship  of  the 
high  school.  The  village  improved  slowly  and  he 
notes  the  following  list  of  families  in  his  parish  for  the 
coming  year's  work : 

"Presbyterian:  Mrs.  Jones,  Mrs.  Jacobs,  R.  S.  Phin- 
ney,  S.  L.  West,  A.  M.  Copeland,  J.  T.  Foster,  Dolly 
Williams,  Mrs.  Patton,  Mrs.  Compton,  Mrs.  Owens,  R.  R. 
Blakely,  R.  N.  S.  Young,  Dr.  Boozer,  L.  H.  Little, 
E.  T.  Copeland,  R.  H.  Williams,  W.  B.  Bell,  M.  S. 
Bailey,  J.  S.  Craig,  P.  Monjoy,  N.  Pyles,  E.  H.  Bourne, 
C.  E.  Franklin,  N.  A.  Green,  G.  R.  Davidson,  G.  C. 
Young,  T.  D.  Newman,  T.  Y.  Harris,  Dr.  W.  C.  Irby. 

"Methodist:  Mrs.  Butler,  Sim  Pearson,  T.  Sloan, 
W.  A.  McKelvy,  A.  Clark,  C.  M.  Ferguson,  W.  J. 
Leak,  N.  S.  Harris. 

"  Baptist :  W.  A.  Rose,  Mrs.  Yarnett 

"  Jew :  A.  Caspary. 

"Total:  Forty." 

And  in  July,  1872,  he  writes  this  resolution  in  his 
diary :  "  If  one  dollar  is  offered  me  for  the  Home  of 
the  Fatherless  this  month  or  one  child  is  tendered  me  I 
will  take  it  as  God's  call  to  this  work,  and  if  I  enter 
upon  it  then  my  lot  is  fixed  for  life  in  Clinton." 

"I  have  almost  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  go  ahead  in  the  matter  of  the  *  orphan 
asylum,' "  he  added.  "  I  wait  for  the  first  dollar  to 
be  given  me  towards  it,     It  will  require  five  thousand 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  101 

dollars  to  buy  a  lot  and  build  such  a  house  as  is  needed. 
But  my  Father  owns  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth 
and  He  is  able  to  supply  richly  all  the  needs  of  His 
little  ones.     He  is  specially  the  helper  of  the  father- 


"  I  have  been  reading  Muller's  '  Life  of  Trust,'  but 
I  cannot  say  that  I  agree  altogether  with  him  in  some 
of  his  points.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  either  lack  of 
faith  or  a  sin  for  believing  Christians  to  own  houses 
and  stocks.  What  would  become  of  the  world  if  all  of 
us  were  opposed  to  holding  property?  Who  would 
have  houses  to  rent  to  us  if  nobody  owned  any  ?  But 
at  the  same  time  I  accept  two  of  his  propositions: 
first,  we  are  God's  almoners  ;  second,  God  answers  the 
prayer  of  faith.  I  own  a  house,  I  receive  a  salary  and 
it  is  right  in  me  to  do  so,  but  my  house  and  my  salary 
are  the  Lord's.  I  use  them  in  His  service.  I  could  not 
serve  Him  unless  I  did  own  them." 

But  the  dollar  was  not  given  nor  the  child.  So  late 
in  July  he  thinks  it  his  duty  to  give  up  the  orphanage 
until  he  is  more  ripened  in  Christian  experience.  He 
sees  two  great  reasons  against  his  attempting  it :  his 
exceeding  littleness ;  and  second,  the  great  expense ; 
and  two  for  it :  first,  the  great  need  ;  and  second,  God's 
willingness  to  help  those  who  try  to  serve  Him.  He 
could  not  rid  his  mind  and  heart  of  these  last  two  and 
kept  thinking  of  getting  a  little  ledger  to  present  to 
the  orphan  asylum.  Amid  his  prayers  for  a  railroad 
and  peace  from  the  KuKlux  persecutions  he  offers  the 
petition  constantly,  "Oh,  Lord,  help  me  about  the 
orphans  and  show  me  what  to  do  !  " 

How  slowly  that  prayer  was  answered  by  Him  whose 
glory  it  is  to  conceal  a  thing  so  that  man  may  glory  in 


102  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

finding  it  out !  Everywhere  he  kept  talking  about  it 
until  his  session  took  it  up  and  Mr.  Phinney,  the  good 
old  beggar  for  the  village,  promised  to  try  to  get  some 
money  in  New  York  to  begin  things  with.  If  he  got 
anything  they  were  to  break  ground.  If  he  failed, 
nothing  more  was  to  be  said  about  it. 

He  failed ;  they  did  not  break  ground  but  more  kept 
being  said  about  it. 

And  after  so  long  a  time  when  the  urge  of  God 
would  not  let  him  alone,  he  gave  himself,  which  was  all 
God  had  been  waiting  for.  "  Thou  leadest  me,"  he 
cried.  "  Oh,  God,  is  it  Thy  will  ?  Shall  I  write  it  ? 
Then  so  be  it.  Tliy  home  for  the  fatherless  children 
sliall  be  founded.     Dear  Lord,  use  7??^." 

And  though  it  took  a  half  century  and  another  gen- 
eration to  tell  which  words  of  that  prayer  should  be 
underscored,  it  is  plain  enough  now. 

So  on  October  seventh  he  drew  up  the  plan  for 
the  orphans'  home,  naming  it  the  "  Thornwell  Orphan- 
age," in  memory  of  good  old  Dr.  Thornwell.  Then  a 
meeting  of  his  session  was  held,  the  little  church  court 
whose  faith  and  judgment  was  not  to  be  despised,  and 
on  the  following  day  he  wrote ; 

"  Well !  the  thing  is  done.  Last  night  the  meeting 
came  off  at  my  house  and  it  was  unanimously  agreed 
to  go  to  work  to  build  the  orphans'  home  at  Clinton, 
to  be  known  as  '  The  Thornwell  Orphanage.'  Oh  !  my 
God,  give  me  courage  to  face  the  thousand  and  one  dis- 
appointments that  I  must  meet  in  carrying  out  this 
resolve.  Help  me  to  work  not  for  self  but  Thy  honour 
and  glory.  Oh,  my  God,  prosper  this  work.  Grant 
that  it  may  succeed  and  that  there  may  arise  light  to 
us.     Dear  Lord,  oh,  please,  for  Jesus'  sake,  relieve  the 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  103 

disturbed  state  of  our  country  and  give  us  our  railroad. 
Eestore  the  peace  and  harmony  of  our  church  and  help 
us  to  work  with  our  whole  heart  for  this  blessed  cause. 
Father !  Father  !  Father !  I  have  ventured  my  all— 
my  present,  my  future,  all  reputation,  all  honour,  all 
advancement.  Lord,  it  is  for  Thy  sake.  Prosper  me, 
my  God,  or  if  I  go  down,  still  prosper  the  work.  Bless 
the  work  and  bless  my  dear  wife  so  that  we  may  strive 
together  for  this  holy  purpose." 

"And  now  for  work— writing,  printing,  reading, 
speaking,  courage,  heart." 

Do  you  not  think  that  any  kind  of  a  God  at  all 
would  have  heard  that  prayer  ? 

And  though  His  answer  came  quickly  no  one  knew 
what  a  wonderful  answer  it  was.  He  often  told  the 
story  of  it,  thus  : 

"  Back  in  the  seventy's  of  the  last  century,  a  little 
boy  came  to  my  door.  He  knocked.  I  opened  and 
there  he  stood.  It  was  cold.  It  was  winter.  The 
snow  was  on  the  ground.  I  did  not  know  whose  little 
boy  this  ten-year-old  youngster  was,  but  I  saw  that  he 
looked  as  if  a  good  fire  and  a  good  breakfast  would  do 
him  no  harm.  ^  Well,  lad,'  I  asked,  '  and  what  can  I 
do  for  you?'  His  answer  almost  took  away  my 
breath  :  '  I  wish  you  would  give  me  a  home,  for  I  have 
none.'  I  stood  and  looked  at  him.  Why,  here  was  a 
wonderful  thing — a  little  ten-year-old  boy,  in  this  gen- 
erous, lovable,  beautiful  state  of  ours,  and  no  home 
and  that  on  Christmas  morning  !     Can  it  be  possible  ? 

"Now,  just  then,  the  wind  blew  out  of  the  north. 
The  house  I  lived  in  faced  the  north.  Whew  !  how 
cold  it  was  !  ^  Do  not  stand  here  talking,  little  man,' 
I  said ;  ^  come  in,  come  in.'     And  he   came   quickly 


104  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

enough,  I  tell  you  !  What  became  of  that  little  boy 
does  not  matter  to  this  story,  but  what  he  did  to  me 
was  enough  !  I  haven't  gotten  over  that  little  boy  yet 
and  it  was  just  thirty-six  years  ago  last  Christmas  that 
he  said,  *  I  want  a  home.' 

"  I  thought  about  that  little  orphan  boy  (for  orphan 
he  was,  without  a  father  or  mother  in  the  whole  wide 
world),  and  it  is  the  fathers  and  mothers  that  make 
homes.  For  a  w^hole  year  I  thought  about  that  boy 
and  at  last  I  said  softly  to  myself,  '  God  helping  me,  it 
can  be  done.' 

"  But  nearly  another  Christmas  day  came,  and  it  had 
not  been  done — whatever  it  was  that  I  had  planned  so 
eagerly.  Talk,  yes,  I  had  talked  about  it ;  for  who 
would  not  talk  when  there  are  little  boys  walking 
around  on  a  cold  Christmas  morning,  not  only  with  no 
Santa  Claus  and  no  Christmas  turkey,  but  not  even  a 
home !  I  know  what  it  is,  not  to  have  a  home  on  a 
Christmas  morning,  for  a  very  little  while.  I  remem- 
ber when  I  was  a  ten-year-old  boy,  on  a  Christmas  morn, 
our  house  was  burned,  with  all  my  Christmas  presents 
in  it.  And  there  I  was.  But  I  had  a  father  and  a 
mother,  and  it  was  not  many  hours  before  I  had  a  home. 
But  think  how  it  felt  while  it  lasted.  So  I  could  not 
help  talking  about  it.  Somebody  ought  to  talk  about 
it.  Talk  is  very  cheap.  And  with  me  it  was  talk  and 
talk  and  that  was  all. 

*'  At  last  another  Christmas  was  coming  and  I  still 
thought  of  that  little  boy.  Now,  boys  are  plentiful  in 
this  big  world,  and  they  get  in  the  way  sometimes. 

"  Once  I  saw  a  little  chubby  child  get  in  the  way  of  a 
car  wheel  and  the  wheel  ran  over  him.  Poor  little  lad ! 
A  man  ran  up  and  said :  ^  What  boy  is  that  ? '     And 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  105 

somebody  answered:  'Don't  know.'  And  the  man 
said :  *  Sorry !  Poor  little  fellow.'  And  he  hurried  on 
his  way.  This  is  the  way  of  it.  The  world  runs  over 
little  boys  and  is  *  sorry,'  and  then  the  big  world  just 
goes  on  about  its  business.  Boys  are  cheap  and  plenti- 
ful. What  does  it  matter  if  one  gets  run  over  now  and 
then  ? 

*'  But  the  boy  I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  now  ran 
over  me.     And  this  is  the  way  of  it : 

*'  How  cheery  and  bright  the  fire  was !  The  weather 
was  cold.  It  was  in  the  early  autumn,  but  the  leaves 
were  turning  yellow  and  when  night  came  there  was  a 
touch  of  frost  in  the  air  and  the  pine  knots  blazed  on 
the  hearth.  It  was  a  widow's  home  in  the  country,  ten 
miles,  at  least,  from  any  town,  and  I  was  there  for  just 
one  delightful  evening.  I  had  noticed  a  bright  little 
orphan  lad,  another  ten-year-old  lad,  and  I  noticed  him 
because  his  name  and  mine  were  the  same  and  it  was 
*  Willie.'  I  am  proud  of  that  name,  for  it  has  taught 
me  to  say  I  will,  and  to  stand  by  it  whenever  the  thing 
to  do  was  right.  *  Now,  man,'  I  would  say,  '  be  true 
to  your  name.' 

"  I  had  told  the  story  of  that  little  Christmas  wan- 
derer and  had  hinted  something  about  a  real  home  for 
such  little  fellows,  not  a  great  asylum,  with  great 
crowds  of  children  in  one  big  house,  but  cozy  homes 
like  Willie's,  and  with  big  wide  playgrounds  with  no 
fences  to  keep  the  little  fellows  in,  and  nothing  but  love 
to  tie  them  to  books  and  duties.  You  see,  dear  old 
friend  to  whom  I  am  telling  this  story,  I  was  just 
prophesying  of  the  Thornwell  Orphanage. 

"  Little  Willie  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  so  that  he 
was  now  standing  by  me,  and  presently  he  laid  his  hand 


106  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

on  my  knee.  The  little  fingers  were  tightly  shut  over 
somethiDg  and  his  eyes  were  earnestly  looking  into 
mine.  I  put  my  arm  around  him,  and  said  to  him ; 
'  Well,  my  boy,  what  is  that  in  your  hand  ? '  The  hand 
came  open  at  once  and  in  it  lay  a  bright  silver  half- 
dollar,  the  boy's  treasure  store.  *  You  are  rich,'  I  said. 
^  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  ? '  *  I  am  going 
to  give  it  to  you  to  build  that  home  for  orphans.' 
I  smiled.  A  half-dollar  to  build  a  home  for  orphans ! 
'  Keep  it,  my  lad,  and  spend  it  for  Christmas ;  I  do  not 
want  to  take  your  money.'  But  no,  he  left  it  there  and 
would  not  have  it  back. 

''  Have  you  ever  read  the  story  of  Aladdin's  lamp  ? 
Better  still,  have  you  ever  read  the  story  of  the  little 
boy's  '  five  barley  loaves  and  a  few  fishes  and  how  they 
fed  five  thousand  ? '  That  single  half-dollar  grew  and 
multiplied.  It  built  that  home  for  orphans.  It  has 
brought  hundreds  of  little  orphan  boys  and  girls  into 
the  path  of  duty,  of  usefulness  and,  I  trust,  of  happi- 
ness. It  has  led  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them  to 
lives  of  good  and  of  service  to  their  fellow  man«  Men 
have  looked  and  wondered.  Angels  have  looked  down 
and  smiled.  As  for  me,  that  half-dollar  bound  me  to  a 
duty  that  has  held  me  these  five  and  thirty  years. 
And  as  for  little  Willie,  God  bless  him !  He  is  not  now 
a  boy,  for  that  was  thirty-six  years  ago.  He  has  reaped 
of  the  Lord's  goodness.  The  Master  has  returned  to 
him  the  half-dollar,  I  have  no  doubt,  a  thousandfold. 
I  trust  the  dear  Lord  is  still  with  him  in  his  home  and 
blessing  him  in  his  business  and  his  store. 

"  The  Lord  of  the  Christmas  times,  who  was  cradled  in 
Bethlehem,  has  blessed  everybody  that  cared  for  His 
orphans.     He  blessed  the  little  town  of  Clinton,  that 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  107 

gave  place  to  the  orphans,  and  He  has  made  it  a  grow- 
ing little  city  of  happy  homes  and  noble  business  men, 
a  city  whose  business  failures  are  very  rare  and  drunk- 
enness and  rioting  and  orphan-making  barrooms  are 
unknown.  He  has  blessed  the  men  and  women  v/ho 
toiled  for  it,  and  gave  to  it,  and  fathered  it,  and  now 
that  the  great  denomination,  in  which  the  little  orphan 
who  gave  his  first  half-dollar  is  an  elder,  has  taken  its 
home  under  its  care  and  is  making  it  his  own.  He  is 
blessing  them,  too.  Other  homes  of  the  kind  have 
sprung  out  of  its  roots  and  there  are  many  of  them  now 
who  care  for  the  little  boys  and  girls  who  say  '  I  want 
a  home';  and  many,  very  many,  are  the  men  and 
women  (they  were  boys  and  girls  once  themselves),  who 
say  '  let  me  help.'     God  bless  them,  every  one." 

For  almost  a  month  that  orphan's  half-dollar  was  the 
one  single  reply  to  his  cravings,  his  toil  and  his  prayers. 
Then  in  November  his  own  little  girl,  Florence,  just  six 
years  old,  brought  her  tiny  hoard  which  she  had  been 
saving  for  a  long  while  and  bestowed  it  upon  his 
dream. 

With  that  he  had  his  first  little  dollar. 

There  is  nothing  little,  not  even  the  day  of  small 
things.  That  very  night  five  dollars  came  from  Dr. 
Jas.  McElroy  in  far-away  Charleston  and  soon  a  woman 
in  Monterey,  111.,  had  sent  five  dollars  more.  In  the 
meantime  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  had  adopted 
some  kind  resolutions  about  it  and  many  circulars  were 
being  scattered  everywhere.  These  were  great  boosts 
and  when  his  good  friend  Emma  Copeland  gave  the 
orphanage  three  dollars  he  exclaimed,  "  We  will  build 
it  yet ! " 

For  having  already  learned  something  of  the  ways 


108  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

of  God  he  rightly  heard  in  these  first  drops  the  sound 
of  abundance  of  rain. 

Soon  he  was  telling  the  churches  of  his  dream  from 
their  pulpits.  In  Laurens  first,  where  they  gave  him 
twenty-seven  dollars  and  promised  more,  and  then  in 
Friendship,  where  he  had  been  supplying  of  late,  whose 
gift  was  sixty-five  dollars,  and  afterwards  in  others. 
Occasionally  a  gift  would  come  from  the  outside 
also. 

"  Little  by  little  the  money  is  coming  in,'*  he  notes. 
"  In  five  years  there  will  be  money  enough  on  hand  for 
us  to  begin." 

"Mrs.  Riley's  little  boy,  Bickett,"  he  adds  later, 
''  gave  me  a  gold  dollar  for  the  home." 

"  Per  contra, says,  *  It  is  a  scheme  to  get  some 

folks  into  office ' ; says, '  It  is  a  chimera ' ; 

says,  '  Not  one  cent  will  he  give.' " 

Encouraged  by  the  steady  growth  in  friends,  the 
"  Board  of  Visitors  "  determined  to  purchase  the  Will- 
iams place  as  the  site  of  the  home,  the  prettiest  spot  in 
CHnton,  over  a  hundred  acres  of  woodland  and  meadow, 
facing  the  "  Big  Road  "  that  led  to  town,  high  and  well 
drained.  It  was  to  cost  them  $1,500,  and  they  knew 
it  would  take  much  labour  and  many  prayers  before 
they  would  get  it. 

But  every  day  now  was  bringing  little  gifts  to  the 
orphanage  and  day  by  day  the  happy  goal  drew 
nearer. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  busy  about  the  work  of  the 
church.  He  lectured  on  phonography  at  the  high 
school  and  later  began  a  course  in  moral  philosophy 
there  also.  This  was  his  conception  of  the  relationship 
of  such  work  to  his  calling : 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  109 

"  I  do  a  great  deal  of  gratuitous  labour  here  but  I 
do  it  with  an  eye  to  my  great  work  of  elevating  this 
people.  My  plan  of  an  orphanage  is  not  only  for  the 
good  it  will  do  the  orphans  but  also  to  bring  out  and 
exercise  the  better  qualities  of  the  heart.  The  library 
and  the  school — I  want  to  educate,  one  for  adults,  the 
other  the  youth.  Our  Monthly  is  to  give  the  people  of 
Clinton  and  all  of  Laurens  a  more  earnest  attachment 
to  the  institutions,  especially  the  religious.  From  the 
pulpit  I  preach  the  Gospel,  in  the  Sunday  School  I 
teach  the  Gospel,  and  so  on  and  so  on " 

Such  was  *'  The  Day  of  Small  Things "  for  tiny 
CHnton  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1872, — the  great  day 
of  decisions. 

Any  one  is  grateful  for  big  gifts,  but  only  the  truly 
wise  are  thankful  for  the  small. 

They  alone  know  that  there  is  nothing  little,  that 
the  big  is  not  the  great. 

The  ninth  anniversary  of  his  coming  to  Clinton 
found  him  busy  among  these  happy  tasks  for  God. 

"  I  believe  I  will  set  down  here,"  he  says,  "  just 
what  has  been  accomplished  that  can  never  be  undone, 
this  too  in  the  face  of  exceptional  and  disastrous  diffi- 
culties, a  tremendous  war  to  start  with,  a  complete 
financial  collapse,  a  fearful  political  revolution,  the 
KuKlux  (so  called)  persecution  still  continuing,  and  the 
death  of  the  railroad. 

"  1st.  The  church  has  risen  in  members  from  sixty 
(white  and  coloured)  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  (white 
and  coloured). 

"  2d.  Instead  of  eight  there  are  seventy-six  baptized 
infants  on  the  roll. 

"  3d.     Instead  of  $100  the  salary  is  $800. 


110  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  4th.  Instead  of  an  annual  contribution  of  nothing 
to  benevolent  causes  it  is  now  three  and  four  dollars. 

"  5th.  Where  there  was  none,  a  Sabbath  School  of 
seventy-six  scholars,  twelve  teachers  and  four  officers 
kept  up  for  nine  years. 

"  6th.     A  library  of  eight  hundred  volumes. 

"  7th.  A  prayer-meeting  originated  and  kept  up  for 
nine  years. 

"  8th.  Instead  of  services  twice  a  month  it  is  now 
twice  every  Sabbath. 

"  9th.     Weekly  contributions. 

"  10th.  Great  improvement  in  behaviour  and  con- 
gregational singing. 

"  11th.  Great  improvement  in  the  church  building 
and  grounds. 

"  12th.     The  orphanage,  projected. 

"  13th.     Five  praying  elders  where  there  were  none. 

"  14th.     Over  a  thousand  sermons  preached. 

"  Besides  this : 

1.  Our  Monthly. 

2.  The  Library  Society. 

3.  The  Clinton  High  School. 

"  I  do  not  set  this  down  in  the  way  of  boasting,  but 
to  encourage  myself  to  future  duties.  I  feel  sometimes 
very  much  discouraged,  but  I  still  will  push  on.  God 
has  enabled  me  to  do  this  much  to  show  that  there  is 
work  even  for  the  weak,  feeble  churches  and  that 
country  pastors,  whom  He  has  called  to  obscure  posi- 
tions, and  who  should  therefore  stay  there,  may  cause 
their  light  to  shine.  Is  it  not  my  duty  to  remain  here 
despite  all  hindrances  and  discouragements,  so  as  to 
prove  to  the  world  this  very  thing  ? 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  THINGS  111 

"  Of  late  I  have  become  negligent  of  my  duty,  but  in 
closing  up  this  book  and  in  beginning  another,  I  trust 
that  I  may  begin  a  life  of  more  energy  and  self-sacrifice, 
that  the  week  may  find  me  at  work  and  each  new  week 
find  the  work  pushed  on. 

"  I  trust  that  the  mottoes  at  the  beginning  of  this 
book  have  not  been  mere  breath,  that  I  have  pushed 
on  and  worked  for  God. 

"  As  I  began,  so  I  end — *  Dirige  vias  meas,  Domine 
Jesu.' " 


XI 

IN  MY  NAME 

And  though  her  faith  in  snow  be  bound. 

Her  feet  with  frost  be  shod, 
The  crocus  rises  from  the  ground 

And  leaves  the  rest  to  God. 

THE  joy  of  consummation  is  in  direct  propor- 
tion to  the  fear  and  toil  and  danger  that 
went  before. 

He  who  has  never  trembled,  utterly  afraid,  has  never 
known  the  meaning  of  security.  The  only  true  faith 
is  resolved  doubt.     Rest  follows  toil  and  toil  only. 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  all  great  spiritual  experi- 
ences ara  of  mingled  emotions.  He  who  is  on  the  way 
to  the  holy  city  of  attainment  passes  through  many 
valleys,  shadowed  dark  as  death. 

It  has  passed  into  a  proverb  that  to  journey  hope- 
fully is  better  than  to  arrive,  but  hope  is  not  the  only 
beautiful  companion  of  the  successful  traveller.  Pain 
goes  with  him,  that  watchful  reminder  of  ill,  and  faith, 
on  whom  so  many  bystanders  look  astonished.  Regret 
comes,  too,  with  her  gentle  wisdom,  wrought  out  in  an 
abandon  of  tears,  and  surprise  leaps  suddenly  forth 
from  some  dark  crevice  with  a  light  in  her  hand. 
These  are  the  messengers  of  God,  who  will  not  show 
Himself  because  He  is  so  plainly  visible  to  any  one  who 
has  eyes  to  see. 

Yet  he  abides  not  in  the  companion  more  than  in  the 
goal.  He  is  not  the  orphanage  nor  the  fear  that  the 
orphanage  will  not  be  built  (though  he  is  both),  so 

112 


IN  MY  NAME  113 

much  as  he  is  the  way.    He  is  not  the  scenery  of  thf 
play  nor  the  language  of  its  writing.     He  is  the  plot. 

And  therein  lies  the  marvel  of  that  wondrous  thing 
we  call  Providence,  which  includes  sorrow  and  its  many 
surceases,  joys  flowing  from  hard  won  success,  the 
great  Sea  of  Loss  and  the  tears  that  have  filled  it,  and 
indeed  all  life  with  its  infinite  complexity  of  struggles, 
and  among  them  prayer  and  its  answer. 

And  all  these  are  part  of  the  plot,  which  must  have 
darkness  in  it  if  it  is  to  be  full  of  light,  which  inevitably 
summons  cold  that  the  hearth  may  glow  ruddily  and 
heaps  anxiety  on  difficulty  for  the  sake  of  dispensing 
happiness — and  developing  souls— for  that  is  the  plot. 

When  we  read,  therefore,  the  story  of  this  soul  in 
its  wonderful  conflict  for  God,  we  hear  that  Voice 
which  no  man  heareth  oft  nor  oft  aright.  For  the 
man  who  knows  the  face  of  Providence  has  seen  God. 

Just  a  tiny  village,  forgotten  of  progress,  with  its 
dead  railroad  and  discouraged  inhabitants ;  no  money, 
no  culture,  no  power,  no  hope,  no  other  thing  that  men 
seek  for  as  a  prize  to  be  grasped  after.  Was  there  ever 
a  better  spot  to  meet  God  than  this  wayside  Bush  of 
the  Wilderness  ?  Here  in  the  chill  of  poverty  and  in- 
difference a  warm  hearth  would  be  instantly  noted  and 
welcomed.  Here  in  the  darkness,  if  anywhere,  a  light 
would  have  a  meaning. 

Thither  the  boy  pastor  had  come  with  the  torch  of  a 
passionate  search  in  his  hand.  He  was  looking  for 
God,  who  was  Himself  the  Search ;  as  also  the  light 
by  which  he  was  guided. 

Now  the  one  great  and  beautiful  problem  for  man- 
kind is  to  determine  whether  connection  between  man 
and  God  is  possible  and  if  so  what  the  terms  and  con- 


114  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

ditions  are  of  such  communication.  To  discover  this  is 
to  discover  everything,  for  it  embraces  all  happiness 
here  and  all  hope  hereafter. 

And  one  day  the  young  minister  became  conscious 
of  the  Great  Discovery — that  the  Power  loves  and 
hears.  Stranger  than  any  Columbus  returning  from  a 
new  world  with  his  tale  of  the  light  on  Guanahani; 
more  wonderful  than  the  Phoenician  sailors  rounding 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  with  the  story  of  a  sun  that 
rose  behind  them ;  more  wondrous  than  the  wildest 
fancies  of  a  Marco  Polo,  from  far-off  Cathay,  is  the 
evidence  of  this  spiritual  adventurer  who  believed  and 
toiled  on  that  spiritual  ocean  of  which  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  — 

"  While  timid  sailors  reef  and  tack 
And  hug  the  sheltering  lea, 
The  ships  that  bring  a  wide  world  back 
Put  bravely  out  to  sea." 

For  there  is  a  sea  upon  whose  waves  no  men  may 
walk  save  only  the  blind.  There  this  strange  sweet 
law  holds,  that  every  spirit  must  walk  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight ;  by  courage  and  not  by  strength.  They  who 
sail  the  sea  in  boats  view  this  spirit,  walking  at  will 
upon  the  waves,  nor  do  any  storms  affright  nor  bil- 
lowy waves  engulf.  The  Power  that  guides  many  have 
named  but  none  have  understood.  By  some  it  is  called 
Courage,  Yision,  Faith,  but  these  are  only  the  robes  it 
wears.  It  is  really  God,  as  all  those  know  whom  He 
has  led. 

For  into  the  life  of  the  crossroads  town,  with  the 
dreary  desolation  of  its  poverty  and  the  wastes  of  its 
uninteresting  monotony  there  came  one  who  could  see. 


IN  MY  NAME  115 

For  that  is  a  characteristic  of  him  who  walks  by  faith 
which  is  courage,  love  shot  through  with  patience. 
Instantly  life  was  no  longer  monotonous  or  poverty  so 
uninteresting  as  to  be  ridiculous.  The  life  of  the  vil- 
lage passed  before  eyes  that  understood  and  loved. 
Possibilities  appeared.  Hope  smiled  here  and  there 
among  the  people.  From  hearth  to  hearth  a  new 
word  w^as  passed  and  a  new  joy  from  heart  to  heart. 
A  battle  began  in  which  those  who  took  part  on  his 
side  gloried  and  even  the  fearful  looked  on  with 
amazement,  for  one  had  come  to  them  who  had  loosed 
the  sandals  from  his  feet,  realizing  that  the  very  dirt 
upon  which  he  trod  was  holy.  Little  by  little  he  won 
his  way  into  their  hearts,  having  unlocked  their  doors 
with  the  Golden  Key  of  Faith ;  a  trust  reposed  in  them 
as  well  as  in  God.  He  did  well  to  believe.  Neither 
betrayed  him. 

So  as  we  move  with  him  here  and  there  among  his 
people,  among  the  little  children  he  loved  so  well  that 
he  never  forgot  to  enter  each  kiss  they  gave  him  in  his 
diary;  among  the  cottages  so  humble  and  so  few; 
among  the  difficulties  and  hardships  of  the  poorest  little 
parish  he  could  hope  for,  it  is  as  if  we  were  studying  a 
lesson  of  Jehovah's  setting.  It  was  the  beautiful  prob- 
lem of  a  human  destiny  not  only,  but  also  an  example 
the  Teacher  was  giving  whereby  He  might  illustrate 
His  dealing  with  man.  Again— as  Lief  Ericsson  had 
done  it, — a  continent  was  to  be  discovered,  a  light  was 
to  appear  to  a  way-worn  traveller  again  and— as  in  the 
past,  so  in  the  future,  the  waves  of  life's  ocean  were  to 
dance  joyfully  in  the  hope  of  it. 

For  this  little  minister  reached  out  his  hand  in  the 
darkness  and  God  took  hold  of  it. 


116  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  God  sent  us  fifteen  dollars  for  the  orphanage  by 
last  night's  mail,"  he  acknowledges.  "  Oh,  how  good 
He  is  thus  to  continually  remember  us.  Oh,  my  Father, 
please  send  us  something  before  the  month  ends — 
enough  at  least  to  run  our  account  over  the  one  hun- 
dred dollars  that  we  desire  to  get  every  month."  This 
was  in  June,  1873. 

"  I  prayed  to  Him,"  he  wrote  later  in  July,  "  that  as 
we  only  had  $98.95  to  report  for  June,  please  to  send 
us  $1.05  to  make  it  up  to  a  hundred,  as  we  never  wish 
to  report  less  than  $100.  Saturday's  mail  brought  us 
nothing,  so  we  were  sorely  disappointed,  but  see  God's 
goodness  :  Yesterday  I  w^ent  down  to  get  the  book  to 
prepare  the  receipts  for  acknowledgment,  when  to  my 
joy  I  found  that  Mr.  Phinney  had  entered  ,$85,  and 
that  Mr.  Bell  had  received  by  last  night's  mail  $46, 
thus  running  up  our  receipts  for  June  to  $230,  thus 
making  a  larger  acknowledgment  than  ever  before. 
I  will  distrust  the  Lord  no  longer.  We  have  not  a 
cent  dowm  for  July,  but  our  receipts  will  overrun  $100, 
for  I  am  going  to  pray  for  that  amount.  I  am  going 
to  pray  more  earnestly  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and 
He  will  grant  me  them  also.  I  know  it.  I  believe  it. 
I  am  sure  of  it. 

"  Yesterday  I  drew  from  the  bank  all  of  our  funds, 
with  the  intention  of  paying  for  the  land  on  Monday. 
I  prayed  God  to  bring  this  business  to  a  satisfactory 
termination.  I  prayed  to  God  our  receipts  for  July 
might  overrun  a  hundred  dollars.  Up  to  last  night  the 
amount  was  $105.85.  This  is  a  full  and  complete  answer 
to  my  prayer.     Shall  I  ever  doubt  my  God  again  ! 

"  Right  here  I  want  to  set  down  my  gratitude  to 
God   for  His  goodness  in  sending  us  $50  from  one 


IN  MY  NAME  lit 

source.  At  the  beginning  of  the  month  I  had  prayed 
earnestly  for  $100.  We  ran  up  easily  to  $50  and  then 
came  a  dead  halt  for  three  weeks.  I  was  greatly  dis- 
couraged and  ready  to  faint.  I  had  put  much  stress 
upon  my  prayer  and  it  seemed  ready  to  fail.  I  went 
down  to  make  up  the  entries  for  the  month  and  by  the 
very  last  mail  and  at  the  very  last  moment  came  this 
$60,  and  so  the  hundred  and  over  v/as  in  hand.  This 
is  God's  doings  and  it  is  marvellous  in  my  eyes.  Oh, 
my  Father,  I  pray  Thee  greatly  increase  my  faith  that  I 
may  plead  for  much.  I  have  asked  for  $200  during 
March. 

"  On  page  129  of  this  journal  is  recorded  my  prayer 
for  $200  for  the  orphanage  during  March  and  to-day, 
March  30th,  the  treasurer  entered  the  two  hundredth 
dollar  upon  his  books.  Lord,  I  do  feel  grateful  for  Thy 
answer  to  my  prayer,  and  now  this  day  because  I  feel 
it  needful  to  the  success  of  our  cause,  I  plead  for  $300 
during  the  month  of  April.  My  blessed  Lord,  I  am 
unworthy,  but  oh,  give  it  to  us.  And  this  shall  satisfy 
my  heart  that  we  are  right  in  endeavouring  to  build  a 
house  forty  by  sixty." — March,  1874. 

To  our  mind  there  comes  the  memory  of  that  first 
dollar  he  wanted  to  receive,  saying  that  if  it  came  he 
would  count  it  an  omen  of  God's  purpose  for  him  to 
go  forward — the  dollar  he  did  not  receive  but  only  half 
of  it  and  that  from  a  little  orphan  boy.  There  is  a 
harmony  here  that  is  beautiful  and  a  problem  utterly 
fascinating.  Let  us  address  ourselves  to  it,  this  strange 
and  wonderful  problem  of  communication  between  God 
and  man. 

There  was  once  a  man  who  spent  part  of  his  time  in 
his  summer  home  in  the  mountains  of  North  Georgia. 


118  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Being  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  industry  he  was  dis- 
tressed by  the  lack  of  application  on  the  part  of  many 
of  the  families  who  lived  in  this  beautiful  country  of 
purpled  peaks  and  fertile  valleys.  One  day  he  asked  a 
long-time  resident  of  that  community  to  find  him  a  man 
to  whom  he  would  gladly  lend,  on  the  most  favourable 
terms,  the  money  necessary  to  buy  a  beautiful  little 
farm,  build  an  attractive  home,  get  seeds  and  imple- 
ments and  thus  provide  all  the  necessaries  of  life  for 
his  family.  He  only  required  of  him  that  he  should  be 
a  man  of  intelligence,  good  character  and  industrious. 
After  four  years'  search  the  friend  reported  that  he 
could  find  many  men  of  intelligence  and  good  character 
but  a  man  of  patient  industry  also  he  could  not  find. 

For  one  of  the  rarest  things  in  the  world  is  the  com- 
bination. Of  good  sense  there  is  plenty,  and  good  char- 
acter, but  of  these  combined  with  unflagging  toil  there 
is  a  great  dearth. 

So  hath  God  found  it  as  He  searches  among  men. 

For  if  we  then  being  evil  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  our  children,  how  much  more  shall  our 
Father  which  is  in  Heaven  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
to  them  that  ask  Him  ? 

Kow  if  the  administration  of  the  universe  demands 
anything  it  demands  care  in  the  detail  of  prayer  an- 
swering, for  in  answer  to  prayer  may  be  read  the  char- 
acter of  God  not  only,  but  the  character  of  those  who 
are  blessed.  Only  those  prayers  should  be  answered 
that  teach  something  of  the  ideal  that  we  should  set 
for  others  and  that  we  should  worship  in  Jehovah. 
For  God  to  answer  a  cry  merely  because  it  is  strident 
and  long  continued  would  be  for  Him  to  set  a  premium 
oftentimes  upon  sloth  and  timidity.     It  would  seem, 


IN  MY  NAME  119 

therefore,  that  answers  to  prayer  should  be  seals  of  ap- 
proval designed  to  aid  and  abet  the  development  of 
certain  desirable  types  of  character  on  earth.  They 
are  in  effect  parables  pointing  out  the  way  of  life. 
Prayers,  like  planets,  have  their  laws  and  their  pur- 
poses. 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  all  men  and  all  institutions 
who  are  to  be  blessed  by  God  must  pass  a  character  ex- 
amination that  is  searching  and  exhaustive.  Their 
faith  must  be  measured,  their  courage  must  be  proven, 
their  patience  must  be  tested.  It  must  be  found  out 
whether  they  are  grateful  for  little  things  and  capable 
of  using  them  before  they  are  trusted  with  great 
things.  They  must  be  tried,  tempted  and  taught  until 
they  are  friends  of  wisdom  and  walk  hand  in  hand  with 
faith.  They  must  pray  for  their  first  dollar  looking 
for  the  hand  of  God  in  the  giving  of  it,  and  receive 
their  fifty  cents  instead,  thus  learning  that  the  other 
half  must  be  toiled  for.  For  it  is  not  in  the  amount 
but  in  the  principle  that  God  dwells.  Oftentimes  the 
greatest  day  is  the  day  of  small  things. 

We  set  side  by  side  with  these  considerations  the 
beautiful  relationship  that  exists  between  the  answer 
and  its  prayer,  which  is  the  urge  of  God.  For  He  sets 
His  Great  Desire  in  the  heart  of  man  until  it  burns 
with  an  all-consuming  fire  and  becomes  a  craving  so 
intense  as  to  command  the  obedience  of  the  whole  life 
and  to  dictate  the  policies  of  thought,  and  sentiment, 
and  deed. 

"Your  wants  are  the  lashes  he  uses 
To  drive  every  player  to  action, 
He  leads  you  by  what  you  desire 
And  draws  you  by  that  which  you  crave  for.^' 


120  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

And  then,  in  His  own  good  time,  having  created  the 
prayer  He  adds  thereto  its  answer.  Each  has  a  pur- 
pose, which  is  the  same  purpose.  With  action  and  re- 
action they  touch  the  spirit  from  which  they  sprang  and 
to  which  they  return  that  it  may  glorify  God  and  enjoy 
Him  forever,  and  this  indeed  is  the  chief  end  of  man. 

This  is  the  lesson  we  learn  as  we  watch  the  life  of 
young  William  P.  Jacobs  as  he  goes  from  town  to  town 
begging  for  his  orphans,  laying  the  foundations  for 
what  he  already  called  "  the  great  work  of  my  life." 
Scarcely  has  he  started  before  he  hears  that  the  dis- 
tinguished Dr.  B is  trying  to  throw  cold  water  on 

the  orphanage  but  comforts  himself  with  the  hope  that 
God  is  on  his  side,  which  "  is  a  great  deal  better  than 

Dr.   B ."      Already   in   April   '63    the  orphanage 

funds  have  reached  the  glorious  sum  of  $650.  In 
July  the  Williams  tract  was  purchased  at  $1,575,  twelve 
hundred  cash  being  paid  on  it  with  $375  borrowed. 
He  used  often  to  tell  the  story  later  of  how  the  seller 
insisted  on  the  deal  being  closed  on  a  certain  day ;  of 
how  he  rode  nine  miles  to  the  neighbouring  Laurens  to 
draw  his  money  from  the  bank  and  shortly  afterwards 
the  bank  closed  its  doors.  So  did  he  think  the  Lord 
protected  his  little  orphanage.  Two  weeks  before  they 
had  resolved  to  build  a  house  40  x  60  and  had  chosen 
Mr.  R.  S.  Phinney,  the  beloved  bee-keeper,  business 
man  and  beggar  for  all  good  causes  as  superintendent 
of  the  construction  work,  an  arrangement  that  was 
soon  changed  by  awarding  the  contract  for  it  to 
Mr.  W.  B.  Bell.  On  January  6,  '74,  the  site  was  staked 
off  and  a  pair  of  oxen  purchased  to  do  the  hauling. 
Then  he  exclaimed  happily,  "  The  great  job  is  begun. 
Kit  Young  hauled  the  first  load  of  rock ! "    Four  days 


c 

05 


IN  MY  NAME  121 

later  Stobo  Simpson  accepted  the  principalship  of  the 
high  school,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  batch  of  forty- 
one  immigrants  arrived  at  Clinton  from  whom  a 
teamster  and  a  mason  were  engaged  to  work  on  the 
orphanage.  By  late  February  Tim  had  hauled  125  great 
foundation  rock  but  he  thought,  "  Our  oxen  are  so 
shabby  that  we  will  have  to  part  with  them."  When 
the  neighbours  found  their  farms  too  wet  for  plough- 
ing they  turned  a  hand  to  help.  By  April  the  first  a 
little  shelter  had  been  raised  on  the  grounds  for  the 
workmen  and  he  himself  was  the  first  to  take  refuge 
under  it  from  a  shower  of  rain.  On  the  fifth  the  mason 
began  work  on  the  construction  under  a  little  blackjack 
tree  near  by.     The  following  day  ground  was  broken. 

And  on  May  28th,  the  Great  Day,  the  corner-stone 
was  laid.  It  was  the  tenth  anniversary  of  his  ordina- 
tion as  pastor  of  the  Clinton  Church.  They  gave  a 
public  dinner  on  the  grounds,  collecting  $325.60  at  an 
expense  of  less  than  $75.     See  his  joy  over  it. 

"  At  last  the  corner-stone  of  the  orphanage  was  laid. 
To-day,  the  28th  of  May,  saw  a  great  day  in  our  town. 
At  an  early  time  the  town  was  filled  with  carriages, 
buggies  and  people.  The  good  Templars  were  out  in 
force.  The  Masonic  fraternity,  presided  over  by 
Colonel  Ball,  numbered  over  a  hundred.  The  cere- 
monies occupied  but  a  short  time.  Then  the  stone  was 
put  in  place.  Among  other  things  it  contained  my 
photograph.  Then  came  the  dinner.  It  was  much 
more  successful  than  I  had  anticipated.  The  proceeds 
(gross)  will  amount  to  at  least  $300 — about  $30  more 
received  from  kind  friends  on  the  grounds. 

^'  One  thing  only  makes  me  sad  and  that  is  that  this 
good  cause  had  opponents  and  enemies  that  did  all  they 


122  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

could,  but  how  ineffectually,  to  injure  our  good  name 
and  our  receipts.  And  members  of  my  own  church, 
one  or  two  only,  but  among  these  some  that  I  loved, 
were  of  this  opposition.  I  feel  sorry  that  one  of  my 
friends  was  in  it,  but  on  the  other  hand  how  many 
showed  true  colours  to-day.  God  bless  and  reward 
them."  He  was  saddened  by  the  opposition  to  his 
work,  yet  as  we  read  the  story  of  it  we  are  comforted 
by  the  thought — toiling  at  our  own  tasks. 

Although  busy  with  his  orphan  work  he  did  not  for- 
get the  high  school.  It  also  was  having  many  diffi- 
culties, among  others  a  rival  school  and  much  opposition 
and  indifference.  He  thought  long  over  its  hardships, 
taking  its  obstacles  as  opportunities. 

"  I  have  at  last  set  my  heart  on  a  plan,"  he  resolved, 
"the  complete  fulfillment  of  which  I  desire  to  com- 
memorate my  twentieth  anniversary  at  Clinton.  It  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  establishment  of  a  male 
college  at  Clinton.  The  thing  can  be  done,  and 
although  I  state  it  in  this  cool  way,  as  though  it  were 
a  mere  bagatelle,  yet  when  Clinton  College  is  a  fixed 
fact,  as  it  will  be  in  ten  years  from  now  if  God  spares 
me  and  prospers  me,  this  cool  way  of  speaking  will  be 
justified.  It  will  take  a  vast  outlay  of  time  and  money 
but  it  can  be  done  and,  God  willing,  it  shall  be  done. 
For  the  present  I  can  only  digest  plans,  for  all  my 
efforts  at  money  raising  must  go  to  the  orphanage. 
JS'or  do  I  expect  to  do  much  towards  even  broaching 
the  subject  of  the  college  until  the  orphanage  is  built." 

The  same  month  of  June  '74  he  wrote : 

"  I  have  hereby  resolved  to  establish  a  college  in  the 
town  of  Clinton,  as  well  as  other  institutions.  I  do  it 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  to  show  that  a  poor  country 


IN  MY  NAME  123 

pastor,  living  in  the  least  of  villages,  can  do,  if  he  will, 
great  things  for  God.  For  this  cause  I  remain  in 
Clinton  and  to  this  end  will  I  labour,  so  help  me  God, 
and  keep  me  steadfast  to  this  purpose." 

Through  the  whole  long  summer  and  fall  he  toiled 
incessantly.  Little  gifts  came  in  one  by  one  and  his 
visits  to  the  churches  added  regularly  to  them.  One 
day  he  received  a  whole  railroad  bond  valued  at  $500 
and  he  exultantly  set  it  aside  to  begin  his  endowment 
fund.  The  close  of  the  year  found  him  busy  in  his 
pastorate,  praying  for  church,  high  school,  orphanage, 
— and  a  railroad. 

Then  came  1875  and  before  the  first  month  has  half 
gone  he  has  written  happily,  "  Work  on  the  railroad 
has  begun  ! "  and  "  Mr.  Lowry  has  accepted  the  princi- 
palship  of  the  high  school."  He  notes  ruefully  that 
*'  Just  $600  has  been  paid  on  my  last  year's  salary," 
and  sadly  that  he  has  received  the  sorrowful  news  of 
the  death  of  his  brother  Ferdie,  whom  he  has  not  seen 
since  he  was  thirteen  years  old.  Shortly  afterwards 
his  young  printer,  Willie  Kook,  left  him  to  set,  print, 
mail  and  edit  Our  Monthly  by  himself.  In  the  same 
month  he  began  preaching  at  Bethany  to  supplement 
the  $600,  and  his  father  moved  to  Cokesbury  to  take 
charge  of  a  school  at  that  point.  Also  that  same 
month  of  February  saw  the  last  stone  laid  in  the  walls 
of  the  "  Home  of  Peace." 

The  roof  was  soon  lifted  and  painting  began  in  late 
April.  He  had  more  time  nov/,  for  Ike  Bourne  had 
taken  Willie  Rook's  place  in  the  printing  office.  He 
even  took  a  trip  to  Washington,  seeing  his  father's 
people  there  and  in  Alexandria  just  opposite.  Of  his 
own  little  town  he  could  only  remark,  "  We  show  vis- 


124  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

itors  the  orphanage,  our  cemetery  and  church,  the 
steam  mills,  the  high  school  and  Mr.  Phinney's  bees." 

By  July  they  were  endeavouring  to  secure  a  matron. 
Mrs.  Thornwell  was  the  first  chosen,  and  then  Mrs. 
McBride  and  then  Mrs.  Philson,  all  of  whom  declined. 
Having  failed  in  every  effort  to  secure  another,  the 
little  lady  of  Coldwater  offered  herself  and  they  gave 
up  their  home  to  live  with  their  orphans. 

On  October  1,  1875,  the  dream  came  true.  Oh,  what 
a  wonderful  realization  of  how  fond  a  hope  !  He  found 
himself  in  his  orphanage.  On  July  11,  1873,  he  had 
written,  **  This  morning  at  seven  o'clock  God  put  into 
my  care  another  son.  Oh,  may  I  be  faithful  as  a  parent." 
Now  his  little  family  of  four  had  grown  into  fourteen, 
for  ten  little  orphan  children  had  been  given  him  to  care 
for.  He  names  them  over  lovingly  :  Mattie  Clark,  Flora 
Pitts,  Ella  Entriken,  Fannie  and  Annie  Agnew,  girls, 
with  Walter  Entriken,  Jinimie  and  Dannie  Boozer, 
Alfred  and  Johnnie  Agnew,  boys.  And  to  their  names 
he  adds  the  prayer  that  God  would  take  care  of  them. 

"  The  orphanage  is  opened,"  he  writes.  "  My  study 
is  beautifully  arranged.  Mary's  sewing-room  is  near 
by.  The  house  is  pretty  well  furnished.  Ten  little 
orphan  children  are  here.  Several  more  have  applied. 
A  little  money  is  needed  for  little  things — a  great  deal 
for  great  things.  As  to  the  day  of  opening,  my  mind 
is  all  in  a  whirl  about  that,  for  I  was  very  unwell.  We 
had  several  hundred  present,  a  good  and  successful 
dinner,  an  afternoon  exercise,  a  dramatic  exhibition  at 
night.  Sabbath,  father  preached  a  splendid  morning 
sermon  for  me,  and  Brother  James  H.  Thornwell  a 
good  night  sermon.  We  had  good  audiences,  a  pleas- 
ant communion,  a  fine  Sabbath  school." 


IN  MY  NAME  125 

And  in  this  great  hour  he  laid  his  plans. 
"  I  propose  this,  if  the  Lord  will :  First,  to  take  twelve 
children — no  more ;  second,  to  pay  our  debts ;  third,  to 
make  an  effort  to  raise  $26,000  endowment;  fourth, 
after  $10,000  is  raised  to  take  one  child  for  each 
$1,000  contributed  till  we  reach  twenty-five  children. 
After  that  I  have  no  further  plans." 

Soon  the  joy  of  the  first  triumph  gave  way  to  that 
strange  sense  of  responsibility  which  follows  hard  on 
the  heels  of  glory,  and  a  host  of  gloomy  diflaculties 
wherewith  God  labours  to  make  men  great. 

"  I  am  sadly  discouraged,"  he  confesses.  "  Lord,  give 
me  strength.  One  of  my  friends  told  me  the  other 
day  that  I  am  the  hardest  to  discourage  of  anybody 
he  knew.  Alas,  I  am  always  discouraged.  But  I  talk 
and  act  the  other  way.  That  is  the  only  way  to  do 
anything.  I  am  very  weak,  but  it  would  not  do  to  let 
others  find  it  out." 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  ordinary  course, 
not  in  romance;  in  opposition,  not  in  praise;  in  toil, 
not  in  glory,  this  thing  was  begun  which  was  to  bring 
so  much  of  romance,  and  praise,  and  glory.  The  quali- 
ties which  worked  their  will  under  the  hand  of  God 
are  those  qualities  He  invariably  chooses  to  bless. 
Again  in  this  forgotten  village,  as  innumerably  in  the 
ages  past  and  future.  He  would  set  His  example  forth 
that  all  men  might  learn  how  inevitably  he  that  asketh 
receiveth,  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to  him  that 
knocketh  it  shall  be  opened.  In  the  spirit  of  all  that 
makes  man  great  he  had  made  his  prayer  to  Jehovah, 
who  hath  so  ordered  His  universe  that  answers  follow 
such  prayers.  And  what  is  this  spirit  but  the  "  Name  " 
of  Jesus  ? 


XII 

THE  WORKING  MODEL 

How  often,  Lord,  I  cried  to  Thee  for  aid, 
Who,  knowingly,  didst  linger  on  Thy  way, 

Yet  ever  would  Thy  sun  prolong  his  day. 
Thy  moon  o'er  shadowed  Ajalon  be  stayed. 

SOMEWHEKE  about  the  home  or  office  of  the 
dreamer  that  we  name  Inventor  is  the  pro- 
totype of  the  thing  he  saw.  It  is  called  the 
Working  Model.  It  is  an  illustration.  Its  value  con- 
sists in  its  being  an  example,  of  an  improved  type 
of  engine  perhaps.  It  will  not  labour  or  toil ;  others 
greater  and  more  powerful  will  follow  to  do  that.  It 
is  of  no  importance  as  a  worker,  yet  it  is  of  more  im- 
portance than  all  its  children  that  shall  come  after  it, 
for  it  first  answered  the  great  question — How  ? 

Of  a  similar  sort  are  all  the  truly  great  and  it  is 
essential  that  their  experiences  and  the  qualities  of  soul 
therefrom  drawn  shall  measure  the  fundamentals  of 
life.  Fear  must  come  into  their  hearts  swiftly  pursued 
by  joy.  Danger  must  affright  if  only  that  safety  may 
follow.  Anxiety  and  sorrow  must  be  allowed  to  do 
their  precious  work,  and  the  agony  of  him  who  chooses 
a  beautiful  ideal,  a  love  for  those  who  cannot  under- 
stand, must  perform  its  blessed  ministry.  So  that  when 
men  look  back  on  that  life  they  may  see  there  a 
working  model  by  which  their  own  struggle  may  be 
blessed  if  they  also  are  willing  to  drink  of  the  cup  from 

126 


THE  AVOllKING  MODEL 


127 


which  he  drank.     For  the  laws  of  God  are  very  sure 
and  the  name  does  not  matter. 


Clinton  in  1876. 

Therefore  when,  as  1876  began,  the  young  pastor 
exclaimed,  "  Oh,  if  our  orphanage  were  only  free  of 


128  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

debt  and  endowed,  what  splendid  opportunities  of  use- 
fulness I  would  have,"  he  must  have  been  thinking  of 
orphans  in  need  of  food,  and  clothing,  and  Jesus.  But 
he  was  not  thinking — for  how  could  he  know — of  the 
working  model  by  which  other  orphanages  were  to  be 
founded  nor  of  how  much  finer  it  ever  is  to  struggle 
greatly  than  to  rejoice  in  victory.  Did  his  enemies 
outnumber  him  ten  to  one  ?  So  much  greater  by  ten 
the  glory. 

It  was  far  more  important  that  the  orphanage  should 
be  built  as  God  was  building  it — m  yearning,  work, 
fear,  need,  prayer  answer,  joy, — than  that  it  should  be 
built  at  all. 

Henry  Drummond  was  almost  right  when  he  said 
that  "  this  world  is  a  workshop,  but  it  is  not  a  place 
where  men  make  things  but  where  things  make  men," 
if  that  marvellous  interplay  of  soul  and  event  and  God 
may  be  called  "  things." 

Every  institution  that  is  to  make  character  must 
previously  have  its  own  character  made.  Those  who 
are  fit  to  teach  must  first  be  fitly  taught.  And  the 
real  teachers  are  not  endowments,  and  ease,  and  praise, 
— but  want,  and  work,  and  woe.  Of  them  only  are 
faith  and  strength  and  courage  born,  which,  being 
the  object  of  institutions,  are  far  more  important  than 
they. 

For  his  little  orphans'  home  was  still  in  danger,  as 
he  thought,  though  actually  neither  more  nor  less  safe 
than  thereafter.  "  If  we  can  run  things  till  Christmas 
we  shall  be  tolerably  safe,"  be  had  written,  as  they 
opened  under  "  this  heavy  debt  of  a  thousand  dollars ! 
Oh,  my  precious  helper,  come  to  me  and  lift  this  burden 
and  it  shall  be  my  last  debt !  "    That  was  in  January. 


THE  WORKING  MODEL  129 

It  was  the  same  in  February  :  "  Oh,  the  debt,  this  is  a 
great  matter  to  me.  Thou  canst  lift  this  burden  with 
a  touch  ;  my  own  precious  Master,  help  me."  And  in 
June  :  "  In  one  stroke,  Lord,  Thou  canst  do  more  than 
I  in  a  lifetime,"  and  for  many  months  thereafter  till 
one  happy  November  (1878)  he  could  exclaim  for  his 
personal  affairs,  "  For  the  first  time  in  fifteen  years  I  am 
out  of  debt,"  and  for  the  orphanage  (December,  1878) : 
''  The  orphanage  has  paid  off  its  last  dollar  of  indebt- 
edness ;  no  man  has  any  paper  against  us,  thank  God  ! " 

By  that  time  he  had  learned  its  lesson  of  wisdom  and 
when  it  was  of  no  more  value — it  was  paid. 

It  is  during  this  period  of  his  life  that  he  worked  out 
his  own  theory  of  prayer.  It  was  like  all  real  knowl- 
edge founded  on  induction.  His  view  of  prayer  was 
pragmatic.  Time  and  time  again  he  was  astonished  by 
a  curious  fact.  Things  he  worked  for  and  prayed  for 
came  to  pass.  If  he  worked,  prayer  worked.  For  ex- 
ample early  in  January,  1876  : 

"  Mr.  T.  C.  Scott  came  in  last  night  loaded  down 
with  provisions  for  the  orphanage,  as  the  result  of  his 
begging  expedition.  This  success  on  his  part  is  in 
direct  answer  to  prayer,  I  do  believe.  I  prayed  the 
Lord  to  assist  me  in  getting  a  faithful  assistant — I  also 
prayed  Him  to  make  the  contributions  with  a  special 
reference  to  the  provision  department,  and  telling  Him 
that  I  would  look  upon  this  as  a  direct  proof  of  His  in. 
terposition  to  answer  prayer.  It  looks  as  if  God  in- 
tended to  answer  prayer  for  my  help." — January,  1876. 

"  God  showed  us  a  token  of  His  goodness  last  night. 
There  was  no  meat  in  the  house  for  breakfast.  I  said 
— '  There  is  a  box  of  clothing  at  the  depot,  it  may  con- 
tain a  little  meat.     Let  us  try  it  first.'     I  had  just  re- 


130  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

ceived  $2.75  for  subscriptions  for  Our  Monthly  ten 
minutes  before,  all  the  money  there  was  in  the  house. 
With  this  I  paid  the  freight  on  the  box,  which  was  even 
$2.75,  and  on  opening  the  box  took  out  two  hams  !  I 
had  just  prayed  for  help.  Thank  God  !  " — June,  1876. 
"  To  God's  glory  I  set  it  down.  We  owed  Miss 
Emma  W.  a  balance  on  her  salary.  I  knew  not  where 
to  go  to  get  it.  I  had  not  one  cent  and  yet  little  by 
little  it  came  in,  the  last  cent  coming  in  just  in  time  to 
foot  the  bill  exactly  and  not  one  cent  more  or  less. 
And  this  is  direct  answer  to  prayer.  Oh,  my  holy 
Saviour,  give  me  courage.  Help  me  to  work,  help  me 
to  pray."— August,  1876. 
And  so  he  passed  by  induction  from  fact  to  theory  : 
"  I  have  been  reading  very  carefully  Muller's '  Life  of 
Trust.'  It  is  a  good  and  valuable  book.  But  I  think 
he  pushed  his  theory  too  far.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
Lord's  mind  is  that  everybody  should  trust  solely  to 
Him.  Why  has  He  given  us  faculties  if  we  are  not  to  use 
them  in  our  work  ?  The  Lord  has  blessed  those  efforts 
that  have  been  the  result  of  prayer.  He  has  blessed 
our  prayerful  labours.  Thus  He  has  taught  us  that 
praying  and  working  go  together.  MuUer's  experi- 
ence shows  that  the  Lord  can  work  without  means. 
Mine  will  be  to  show  that  the  Lord  always  blesses 
work  and  prayer  if  combined  and  proceeding  on  Scrip- 
tural principles.  These  principles,  as  far  as  I  am  able 
to  decide  them,  are :  First,  untiring  activity.  This  is 
not  beyond  but  up  to  our  ability ;  Second,  fervent 
prayer, — this  is  not  formal  or  at  stated  times,  but  con- 
stant ;  Third,  scrupulous  honesty,  not  such  an  honesty 
that  makes  a  fair  balance  sheet  but  that  kind  which  at- 
tempts to  do  for  the  cause  far  more  than  the  cause  does 


THE  WORKING  MODEL  131 

for  its  promoter ;  Fourth,  self-sacrifice ;  Fifth,  humil- 
ity. This  is  as  hard  as  any  part  of  it.  Men  love 
praise.  It  is  very  hard  to  consent  to  hide  ourselves  be- 
hind others  ;  Sixth,  close  and  devout  attention  to  the 
work.  I  think  the  church  and  orphanage  both  often 
suffer  because  I  neglect  them. 

"  These  are,  as  far  as  my  experience  has  yet  gone, 
the  Scriptural  principles  on  which  the  Lord's  work 
ought  to  proceed.  I  am  grateful  to  record,  however, 
that  there  is  a  constant  growth  in  my  experience,  and 
that  it  seems  to  me  the  Lord  by  His  providence  is  con- 
stantly showing  me  the  plain  path  to  tread." 

And  in  December,  18Y7 : 

"  God  wonderfully  provides  for  us  when  we  actually 
need  it.  We  needed  a  pump  but  could  spare  very  little 
money.  Blatchley  &  Co.  knocked  off  two- thirds  the 
price.  We  needed  badly  a  sewing-machine  and  Mrs. 
Blackwood  of  Greenville  is  going  to  send  us  one.  We 
need  a  well  very  much.  We  need  a  cow.  Lord,  Thou 
knowest  we  need  these  things.  Give  them  to  us,  if  it 
be  Thy  will." 

"  Look  back  to  December  22d  and  read  the  prayer 
there  recorded.  In  answer  God  gives  us  a  better  well 
than  we  then  hoped  for  and  two  cows." 

And  in  May,  1878 : 

"We  have  come  to  the  verge  of  need  and  there  is 
nothing  coming  in.  Lord  send  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread.  I  have  written  six  letters  asking  aid  but  the 
dear  Lord  can  send  it  before  any  human  help  can 
avail.     .     .     . 

"  Oh,  I  thank  Thee,  blessed  Father,  that  to  strengthen 
my  faith  Thou  hast  done  this  very  thing.  Last  night 
the  bill  of  goods  came  in  and  we  had  nothing  in  the 


132  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

treasury  but  by  the  same  mail  came  thirty  dollars  from 
a  most  unexpected  source,  beiug  more  than  the  special 
sum  needed,  and  as  I  believe  in  answer  to  an  earnest 
prayer  of  mine  yesterday,  to  this  effect — '  Lord,  I  have 
no  reason  to  hope  for  a  cent  by  this  mail,  as  our  sup- 
plies have  been  very  few  of  late.  I  have  written  letters 
that  will,  by  Thy  aid,  I  trust,  bring  relief  in  a  few 
days,  but  Thou  canst  gloriously  strengthen  my  faith  by 
sending  in  a  supply  for  this  evening's  need  before  my 
letters  could  possibly  be  answered.'     And  He  did  it." 

In  the  meantime  his  life  went  along  its  accustomed 
way  of  dream  and  deed,  of  plan  and  pursuance.  He 
was  so  often  disappointed  that  he  despaired  no  more. 
His  Library  Society  prospered — and  was  gone,  and 
came  to  life  again.  Indeed,  by  June  of  '76  he  had 
established  three  libraries  in  Clinton,  the  Library 
Society's  of  150  volumes,  the  orphanage's  of  200 
volumes,  and  that  of  the  Sunday  School  of  1,100 
volumes,  and  he  could  say : 

^'  I  found  no  books  here  when  I  came  and  now  this 
is  getting  to  be  a  reading  people,"  and  characteristically 
he  adds — "I  am  determined  to  go  to  work  for  the 
establishment  in  this  town  of  a  library.  It  must  be,  it 
shall  be.  I  am  determined  to  have  a  really  first-class 
library,  with  a  good  brick  building  and  reading  rooms, 
librarian,  etc.  So  help  me  God  and  keep  me  steadfast 
and  ever  in  my  senses,  to  keep  and  observe  the  same." 

It  is  in  this  same  year,  1876,  that  he  thinks  the  high 
school  "  has  entered  proudly  upon  its  fourth  year," 
with  fifty  students.  For  Mr.  W.  S.  Lee  had  taken 
charge — "  A  considerable  acquisition,  as  Clinton  people 
will  soon  see."  He  was  constantly  thinking  of  greater 
things  for  this  high  school. 


THE  WORKING  MODEL  133 

"  On  my  hands  constantly — A  church  of  100  mem- 
bers, a  Sunday  School  of  250,  a  prayer-meeting,  Our 
Monthly  printing  office,  this  orphanage,  and  there  is 
more  still,  but  here  are  the  grand  things  I  will  do — 
The  Clinton  Public  Library,  The  Clinton  College ! 

"  I  propose  the  following  plan  for  the  establishment 
of  our  college — that  the  orphanage,  as  soon  as  it  escapes 
this  grinding  debt,  call  on  the  citizens  to  unite  with  us, 
that  we  furnish  the  lands  and  hold  the  titles  and  that 
we  erect,  with  the  aid  of  the  town,  a  building  to  which 
our  advanced  pupils  shall  be  admitted.  But  thousands 
of  dollars  must  first  be  got  to  put  the  orphanage  on  a 
thoroughly  substantial  basis.  I  think  a  thousand 
dollars  to  free  us  from  debt,  one  thousand,  two  hun- 
dred to  run  us  a  year  and  our  invested  fund  of  one 
thousand,  five  hundred  is  enough  for  our  present  es- 
tablishment, but  we  do  need  one  thousand  for  com- 
pletion of  our  building  and  fencing.  *  Unless  the 
Lord  build  the  house  they  labour  in  vain  that  build 
it.' " 

And  in  his  church  work  he  toiled  incessantly, 
although  his  salary  was  so  irregularly  paid  that  he 
could  often  say,  "Four  hundred  and  forty  dollars 
collected  on  salary  this  year  and  none  promised  for 
next."  He  directed  his  attentions  towards  getting  his 
people  to  give  to  others,  determining  "that  if  they 
would  not  give  to  my  support  they  should  to  every- 
thing else."  Yet  he  loved  his  flock  as  a  tender  shep- 
herd. Like  a  faded  flower  pressed  between  the  pages 
of  an  old  book  are  these  words  from  his  diary  (July, 
1876): 

"  My  darling  little  Minnie  West  is  dead.  Oh,  God, 
what  can  I  say,  I  loved  her  so.     Dear  Saviour,  take 


134  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

good  care  of  her  and  let  me  see  her  again  some  day. 
Precious,  darling  Minnie,  how  can  I  give  you  up  ! 

"Tears  come  whenever  I  think  of  Minnie.  I  did 
love  the  little  child  so.  Dear  little  thing !  How 
sweetly  she  used  to  tell  me  she  loved  me.  Oh,  Minnie ! 
Minnie  !  how  can  I  give  you  up  ?  God  pity  and  help 
her  poor  parents. 

"  I  must  write  through  this  page,  for  when  I  turn  to 
it  and  see  Minnie's  name  on  it,  it  blinds  me.  Oh,  God, 
how  I  did  love  that  child  !  Had  she  been  my  own  I 
could  have  loved  her  no  better.  Sweet  blessed  h'ttle 
one,  the  sunset  land  seems  nearer  now  that  you  are 
there." 

For  the  rest,  his  life  went  on  its  usual  routine,  one 
unceasing  succession  of  needs,  fears,  prayers  and  an- 
swers. The  Laurens  railroad  at  last  reached  the  center 
of  town  (December,  1875)  and  gave  a  free  excursion  to 
Newberry,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  delighted 
villagers  improved  the  opportunity  to  see  if  it  would 
really  run.  The  fii'st  Christmas  passed  at  the  orphanage 
with  no  presents  for  the  children  except  such  as  he 
gave  them.  Miss  Emma  "Witherspoon,  granddaughter 
of  the  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  came 
to  be  the  first  teacher  at  the  orphanage  until  August  '76, 
when  Miss  Pattie  Thorn  well,  daughter  of  the  great  and 
good  man  for  whom  the  institution  was  named,  suc- 
ceeded her.  In  September  he  went  to  see  the  Centen- 
nial in  Philadelphia,  thinking  he  would  write  it  up  for 
Our  Monthly^  but  declared  he  found  it  too  big,  and  in 
the  same  month  first  mentions  his  deafness  as  a  hin- 
drance to  his  work. 

In  1877,  which  came  in  with  a  notable  snow-storm, 
he  finished  the  attic  of  the  orphanage,  dividing  it  into 


THE  WORKING  MODEL  135 

printing  office  and  study,  but  he  still  needs  "  a  piazza 
and  kitchen  and  a  helper  for  Mary."  In  the  night  of 
February  15th,  at  ten  o'clock,  "  God  gave  me  a  fifth 
child,  a  little  lad  that  I  pray  may  grow  up  to  be  a 
good  and  useful  boy  and  a  model  man.  We  will  name 
him  Thornwell,  in  that  he  is  the  first  and  only  child 
born  in  the  Thornwell  Orphanage,"  and  on  Decem- 
ber 1st  he  notes  that  "Father  preached  for  me  and 
baptized  our  little  Thornwell "  before  a  good  congre- 
gation. For  his  father  had  come  back  to  South  Caro- 
lina, so  that  at  the  recent  meeting  of  Presbytery  at 
Anderson  the  rare  spectacle  was  seen  of  a  father  and 
his  two  sons  elected  as  officers,  all  ministers:  Eev. 
Ferdinand  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  Moderator ;  Rev.  J.  R.  Jacobs, 
Temporary  Clerk,  and  Rev.  W.  P.  Jacobs,  Stated  Clerk, 
The  year  1878  came  bringing  two  little  boys  to  the 
orphanage,  "  Darby  and  Sam  Fulton.  I  hope  they  will 
prove  to  be  good  little  boys."  Soon  Mr.  Scott,  that 
blessed  beggar,  came  in  from  one  of  his  rounds  bring- 
ing a  cow  with  him.  The  kitchen  is  finished,  and  now 
for  the  piazza !  On  this  last  his  heart  is  set  and  by 
June  he  has  almost  enough  money  for  it.  In  August 
it  is  being  built  and  a  laundry  is  being  planned  as  the 
next  improvement.  If  God  gave  them  to  him  because 
he  prayed,  saying,  "  I  want  it  before  the  last  of  sum- 
mer but  I  will  wait  on  it  for  years,"  was  it  less  won- 
derful than  the  bonds  that  would  some  day  follow,  or 
less  beautiful  to  Him  who  understands  ?  Indeed  when 
the  piazza  a.nd  laundry  have  been  built  and  he  is 
dreaming  and  talking  of  a  cotton  factory  for  his  town 
twenty  years  before  it  is  a  fact,  he  exclaims,  "  Blessed 
Master,  what  does  it  all  amount  to  if  souls  are  not 
saved  ? " 


136  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

For  it  was  on  the  church  that  had  paid  him  $440  for 
one  year's  toil  and  promised  nothing  for  the  next  that 
his  great  love  centered. 

"  Blessed  work  to-day,"  he  writes,  "  for  which  I  thank 
the  Lord.  Six  united  with  the  church,  among  them 
my  own  child,  Florence.  Lord,  make  her  truly  Thine. 
Four  of  our  orphans  also  joined,  and  Henry  Yance. 
Thank  God !  To  me  a  pleasant  day.  My  soul  was  in 
it.  Dear  Lord,  give  me  more.  This  is  but  a  taste — 
Lord,  send  me  souls." 

And  so  he  came  to  1879,  the  year  of  his  unmeas- 
ured sorrow.  Already  there  were  thirty  in  his  orphan 
family  entrusted  to  him  by  sweet  providences  for  which 
he  had  prayed.  It  is  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  and 
he  is  writing  to  God : 

"  Two  more  hours  and  the  year  ends.  Its  365  days 
have  been  cut  off  of  my  life.  I  am  a  3'^ear  nearer  eter- 
nity. To-night  I  feel  that  the  love  of  Christ  is  a  pre- 
cious and  glorious  gift  to  me.  I  love  Thee,  oh,  my 
Master.  I  wonder  that  Thou  couldst  accept  such  a  poor 
gift  as  my  wild  heart,  so  often  false  to  Thee  and  to 
itself,  but  this  I  know,  the  Lord  died  for  me.  It  is  a 
glorious  thought.  I  know  not  how  soon  He  may  call 
me  to  leave  everything  behind,  but  this  I  know,  that  if 
He  will  only  make  sure  to  bestow  on  me  eternal  life 
and  to  see  His  blessed  person,  I  would  not  hesitate  to 
say  with  Paul,  ^To  depart  and  be  with  Christ  is  far 
better.'  It  is  only  when  I  am  drawn  by  a  fear  lest  I 
shall  not  have  everlasting  life,  that  death  seems  ter- 
rible. If  I  could  but  lay  hold  with  irresistible  faith  on 
that  glorious  proposition  that  Christ  hath  brought 
immortality  to  light  I  would  be  content  and  would 
glorify  God  with  thanksgiving.     It  is  more  than  faith 


THE  WORKING  MODEL  137 

I  want.  I  crave  to  know.  I  am  not  satisfied  with  say- 
ing, '  I  believe,'  *  I  am  persuaded.'  I  want  to  say,  '  I 
know' — to  say  it  most  intensely  and  profoundly — I 
know.     Oh,  my  God,  grant  me  this  knowledge. 

"  And  now,  blessed  Lord,  I  close  the  year  and  this 
book  together.  All  its  secrets  that  are  unrecorded  here. 
Thou  knowest.  It  is  my  pain  and  my  joy  that  Thou 
knowest.  Blot  out,  O  Lord,  the  errors  and  the  short- 
comings, and  grant  large  success  to  all  good  labours. 
Oh,  blessed  Father,  crown  my  life's  work  with  success. 
This  year  crushes  me  with  its  failures.  Oh,  lift  me 
up,  Lord,  lift  my  life  higher,  higher.  I  would  be 
wholly  consecrated  to  Thee,  that  I  might  show  to  this 
people  a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  Lord,  I  leave  it 
all,  all  with  Thee.  Where  another  twelve  months  will 
find  me,  I  know  not,  but  oh,  let  no  times,  no  seasons, 
separate  me  from  Thy  cause.  Grant  to  me  to  love 
Thee  better,  to  work  harder  for  Thee  every  year,  and 
when  my  work  for  Thee  in  this  life  is  done,  as  it  is  now 
done  in  this  year,  oh,  give  to  me  proof  of  my  longing 
hope  that  I  shall  live  forever  and  with  Thee!  No 
better  thing  than  this  can  I  conceive  or  crave.  My  soul 
cries  out  for  it.  I  long,  I  pant,  I  thirst  after  it,  yea 
more  than  hart  for  water  brook." 


XIII 
THE  EOD  OF  HEEMES 

Nor  Time,  that  ever  is,  nor  Space  may  rob 
The  wondrous  hoardings  of  thy  treasury. 
Turn  low  the  light,  my  heart — 'tis  She — now  throb 
In  Memory, 

THERE  is  an  ancient  story,  told  often  to  those 
in  trouble,  of  a  way  whereby  and  a  source 
wherefrom  all  bitter  waters  might  be  sweet- 
ened and  all  dross  transmuted  into  gold.  It  has  to  do 
with  the  same  marvellous  process  sketched  in  the  old 
time  riddle  of  Samson :  "  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth 
meat  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 
Passing  along  this  strange  path  sorrow  becomes  joy, 
weakness  grows  into  strength  and  courage  springs  from 
fear,  as  the  traveller  wins 

''God  out  of  knowledge  and  good  out  of  infinite  pain, 
And  sight  out  of  blindness  and  purity  out  of  a  stain." 

For  as  is  the  soul  so  also  becomes  that  which  it 
touches.  Strife  comes  and  from  it  strength  is  drawn 
or  weakness;  danger  comes,  and  from  it  courage  or 
fear ;  difficulty  comes,  and  from  it  achievement  or  fail- 
ure. This  clear  and  beautiful  quality  of  spirit,  touching 
anything,  is  able  to  transmute  it  into  good.  "  This  is 
the  Rod  of  Hermes,"  said  the  ancient  philosopher; 
"  touch  what  you  will  with  it  and  it  becomes  gold." 

Nor  was  this  power  of  soul  very  far  removed  from 
138 


THE  ROD  OF  HERMES  139 

that  conviction  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  those  that  love  God.  "  Concerning  the  Gods,"  said 
Epictetuis,  "  some  say  that  the  Godhead  does  not  exist 
at  all  and  others  that  though  He  exists  He  does  not 
bestir  Himself  nor  take  forethought  concerning  things. 
A  third  part  hold  that  He  does  take  forethought  but 
only  for  great  and  heavenly  matters,  and  not  for  matters 
oil  earth.  Others  still  maintain  that  He  does  bestir 
Himself  for  matters  on  earth  but  only  for  great  and 
heavy  concerns  of  transcendent  importance.  A  fifth 
part,  of  whom  were  Socrates  and  Ulysses,  cry :  '  I 
move  not  without  thy  knowledge.' " 

And  it  was  well  for  this  man  who  neared  the 
shadows  that  he  held  such  a  magic  wand  so  securely 
and  knew  its  use  so  well.  For  the  author  had  now 
come  to  his  dark  chapter. 

There  is  a  dark  chapter  in  every  life-story  always 
exquisitely  planned  and  placed  as  only  the  true  artist 
can  place  it.  Perfectly  timed  also  it  is  to  match  the 
forward  movement  of  the  plot  and  the  deeper  its  dark- 
ness the  deeper  its  meaning.  As  the  reader  of  the  story 
looks  back  on  it  in  later  years  he  knows  it  to  have 
been  the  great  chapter  from  which  every  later  victory 
drew  its  authority  and  without  which  each  after-glory 
was  empty  of  meaning.  And  when  those  come  who 
study  lives,  endeavouring  to  find  in  them  the  sesame  of 
that  wisdom  whereby  the  door  to  the  great  secret  may 
be  opened,  they  also  look  for  that  hour  of  a  night  so 
black  that  it  may  be  felt  and  measure  the  soul  of  their 
hero  by  the  spirit  the  Author  gave  him  as  he  fought  his 
way  forward  into  the  light. 

One  can  picture  the  scene  in  the  little  village  as  the 
sun  set.     A  new  year  is  opening  and  the  pastor,  still 


140  THE  LIFE  OF  AVILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

young,  is  planning  high  things  for  his  church,  though 
his  last  year's  salary  of  $G00  has  not  been  paid;  for  his 
high  school,  with  its  romantic  halo  of  a  male  college 
forming  about  its  head,  and  for  his  orphans'  home  of 
which  one  lone  building  has  been  erected.  He  is  going 
to  study  regularly  and  write  a  weekly  sermon,  and 
visit  more  often,  and  revive  the  library  society,  and 
extend  the  orphan  work,  and  improve  Our  Monthly 
and  complete  the  new  Sunday  School  room.  All  these 
things  he  will  do  but  the  greatest  he  knows  not. 

And  now  we  take  his  hand  in  ours  and  walk  with 
him  down  that  lonely  path  so  rich  in  its  wayside 
flowers  of  wisdom.  This  somber  company  whom  he 
meets,  Pain,  Loss,  Despair,  Loneliness,  Agony,  and  the 
sweet  bands  that  Love  had  bound  about  his  life.  The 
great  black  hour  has  come !  He  sits  down  to  write 
with  a  bursting,  breaking  heart.  *'  Oh,  my  God,  help 
me.  Mary,  darling  Mary,  my  own  sweet,  precious 
wife,  how  can  I  bear  this  separation  ?    Gone !  so  quick, 

so  unexpected.     I  shall Well,  heart,  beat  on,  but 

every  beat  is  a  sledge-hammer  striking  pain.  She  died 
at  11 :  35  to-day ;  her  last  look  was  into  my  eyes  and 
then  her  precious  soul  went  out  in  glory.  I  know  she 
is  with  my  Saviour.  She  loved  Him  so.  He  would 
not  forsake  her  in  this  hour.  No  !  No !  No  !  but  oh, 
my  Lord,  what  shall  I  do  ?  Help  me,  oh,  my  God  ! 
I'm  falling,  falling,  falling.  Half  the  world  is  gone 
out  to  me.  Wherever  I  look  some  token  of  my  Mary's 
love  strikes  me.  Oh,  my  God,  forsake  me  not  in  this 
hour.     The  evil  that  I  greatly  feared  is  come  upon  me." 

"  It  was  love  that  cut  short  the  expiring  breath  from 
her  dear  lips, — at  the  recognition  of  our  tears  about  her 
bed.     Oh,  Mary,  Mary,  Mary,  Mary,  how  can  I  give 


THE  KOD  OF  HERMES  141 

thee  up  ?  Oh,  my  life,  my  love.  I  had  thee  fourteen 
years,  and  yet  I  would  give  everything  for  one  short 
hour's  converse  with  thee.  Pity  me,  pity  me,  oh,  my 
friends.  Help  me,  oh,  my  God.  She  lies  now  in  our 
reception  room,  so  sweet  and  still  in  death.  She  will 
never  speak  to  me  any  more." 

"  Four  days  have  passed  since  she  was  buried — they 
have  contained  the  bitterest  experiences  of  my  life. 
But  to-day  I  feel  that  the  agony  of  death  is  past.  I 
have  suffered  that  which  none  but  God  will  know." 

Thus  there  came  a  cloud  that  overshadowed  him  and 
he  feared  as  he  entered  into  the  cloud. 

But  there  came  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud  : 

"  I  walked  down  over  the  farm  to-day  but  I  could 
not  think  in  any  way  but  this : 

'*  Oh,  to  be  nearer,  nearer, 
Close  to  my  Saviour's  side. 
Leaning  my  head  on  His  bosom 
Awaiting  the  ebb  of  the  tide. 

"  I  have  never  felt  such  a  still  and  quiet  rest  on  the 
Master  before  in  all  my  life.  I  feel  that  what  I  have 
suffered,  as  it  has  brought  to  Mary  eternal  happiness, 
has  wrought  in  me  more  faith  and  a  deeper  trustfulness 
in  my  dear  Lord." 

"  The  Board  met  last  night  and  elected  Miss  Sallie 
Lee  matron.  I  sincerely  hope  that  she  may  accept. 
They  passed  some  very  kind  and  touching  resolutions 
about  Mary." 

"Sometimes  a  wave  of  sorrow  comes  over  me, 
striking  me  down  to  the  earth,  but  I  now  have  learned 
to  think  of  Mary,  not  as  dead  but  as  living.  I  shall  see 
her  again  in  the  presence  of  my  Saviour  and  hers,  and 


142  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

in  the  better  country.  Until  then,  I  will  bide  near 
Thee,  O  Lord." 

And  so  a  week  passed  while  he  dwelt  with  sorrow 
upon  sorrow,  with  the  wand  in  his  hand. 

"A  week  ago  to-day !  I  find  my  exterior  perfectly 
calm,  but  I  have  lost  the  zeal  for  the  things  of  this 
world,  that  once  so  filled  me.  I  long  to  be  more  use- 
ful in  Christ's  kingdom,  to  do  more  and  better  work 
for  Him." 

"  Sweet,  dear,  precious  wife,  mine  no  longer.  What 
would  I  not  give  for  just  a  few  short  words  from  you. 
Her  very  last  words  to  me  were  in  answer  to  my  ques- 
tion— *  Mary,  do  you  still  put  your  trust  in  Jesus  ? ' — 
'  Yes,  yes,'  she  said.  ^  He  is  all  1  have  to  trust  in  now.' 
Oh,  sweet,  blessed  wife,  sainted  and  safe.  God  keep 
thee.     But  my  poor  life,  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

"  Yesterday  I  began  my  work  for  the  Master, — alas, 
that  my  zeal  is  born  of  sorrow.  I  find  it  my  pleasure 
now,  for  the  first  time  since  I  became  a  pastor,  to  visit 
my  flock.  Sometimes  I  have  feared  that  God  took  my 
Mary  away  from  me  because  I  loved  her  better  than  I 
loved  His  Church.  And,  strange  contradiction,  in  the 
next  minute  I  fear  that  He  took  her  because  I  did  not 
sufficiently  lighten  her  burdens.  I  pray  God  to  sanctify 
this  great  sorrow  to  my  soul.  I  cannot  realize  any- 
thing. I  never  could.  Is  Mary  gone  ?  I  look  for  her 
sweet  face  to  look  in  through  the  door.  I  think  surely 
she  will  come  in  soon.  Every  night  I  dream  of  L^r. 
O  God,  help  me." 

"  In  my  trouble,  Florence,  my  precious  little  daugh- 
ter, is  a  great  comfort  to  me.  She  comes  as  near  as  a 
daughter  could  to  taking  her  mother's  place.  I  love 
her  even  as  I  love  my  own  soul.     ,    ,    ,    It  is  a  sin,  it 


THE  EOD  OF  HERMES 


143 


^^ 


^ 


►v^-a*.^ 


A*.^^  ^^f^Jo 


^^9"%.-^    J>^ 


cA*     ^-i^T^    o-^i/T*.    ^-^-^    A»**^  ^  y^S^    o-»x^^ 


'^*-«e7 


A  page  from  his  Diary,  March  24,  1879.  Compare  this  draw- 
ing with  the  fulfillment  of  his  prayer ;  over  forty  buildings 
occupied  by  nearly  four  hundred  children  and  teachers. 


144  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

is  cowardice  to  long  so  to  be  in  Heaven  with  Mary. 
Oh,  my  God,  give  me  strength." 

Now  when  the  Author  had  seen  the  vast  sorrow  in 
which  His  hero  mourned,  He  bethought  Him  of  the 
finest  touch  of  all  that  the  story  might  be  perfect  and 
its  tragedy  add  meaning  to  meaning.  It  was  not 
enough  that  he  should  suifer  as  other  men,  but  now, 
while  his  heart  was  sore  and  his  soul  in  need  of  com- 
fort, he  must  touch  the  hot  u^on  of  jealousy  and  feel 
the  cold  steel  of  enmity.  So  would  his  life  ever  speak 
a  word  in  season  to  him  who  might  later  be  weary. 

"  The  breezes  have  blown  gently  for  the  orphanage 
for  a  long  long  time,"  he  writes  in  that  very  month, 
*'  but  now  there   comes   a   furious   counterblast   from 

the charging  us  with  all  manner  of  deceit  and 

fraud.  It  would  trouble  me  sadly  if  it  were  true. 
Blessed  Master,  I  lay  this  work  at  Thy  feet.  Destroy 
me  or  this  work,  if  so  be  Thy  will.  It  is  Thine,  I  am 
Thine.     Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him." 

"  I  am  sometimes  as  full  of  sorrow  as  I  can  hold 
when  I  think  of  my  dear,  precious,  dead  wife.  Lord, 
help  me  to  bear  this." 

"  The  papers,  especially  in county,  are  after 

me  and  the  orphanage  because  we  have  tried  to  get  the 
people  to  contribute  to  its  support.  I  am  very  uncer- 
tain as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue.  I  think  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  reply,  and  yet  of  all  things  in  the  world, 

I  most  despise  a  newspaper  controversy.     The 

accuses  me  of  fraud,  etc.,  the of  incompetency. 

I  know  not  why  the  blessed  Master  has  allowed  this 
avalanche  to  descend  upon  me  just  at  this  particular 
time,  when  my  heart  is  smarting  under  a  heavy  sorrow, 
but  I  know  that  He  can  make  even  the  wrath  of  man 


THE  EOD  OF  HEKMES  145 

to  praise  Him.  May  He  give  me  wisdom  in  this  trying 
hour  that  I  may  not  err.  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  write  out  a  short  reply  in  as  gentle  a  way  as  I 

can  for  the paper.     As  to  the ,  I  know 

not  what  to  do,  for  their  attack  is  so  evidently  malicious 
and  done  behind  my  back,  they  not  having  sent  me  a 
copy  of  their  paper." 

And  here  we  come  across  a  strange  fact  and  a  strange 
law  :  All  birth  is  in  pain.  Each  new  life,  each  new  in- 
stitution must  win  its  way  by  struggle.  It  should  not 
be  otherwise.  They  who  would  teach  must  be  taught, 
and  this  is  the  only  school  for  character.  What  is 
better  in  life  than  the  struggle  ?  Who  would  wish  to 
win  a  race  by  walking  ?  So  come  these  days  of  storm 
to  cause  great  oaken  hearts  to  grow  ;  these  hours  of 
fire  that  the  spirit  may  be  tempered  as  steel,  these 
precious  moments  of  trial  that  glory  may  crown  so  fine 
a  spiritual  victory.  And  so  in  these  sad  weeks  the 
Author  gave  him  this  to  write  about  also  that  there 
might  be  nothing  lacking  to  test  the  power  of  the  rod: 

*'  One  of  the  greatest  burdens  I  have  to  bear  is  the 
reviling  of  the  orphanage  and  its  work  by  brother 
ministers,  I  thank  God  that  they  speak  falsely.  His 
favour  is  better  far  than  that  of  men.     .     .     ." 

"I  have  just  received  an  insulting  communication 
from  Rev. ,  reiterating  his  charge  that  the  or- 
phanage is  a  humbug  and  a  swindle.  I  am,  of  course, 
greatly  pained  by  it  but  God  has  so  greatly  blessed  my 
labours  of  late  that  it  was  needful  that  I  should  be 
taken  down  a  bit,  lest  I  should  glory  above  measure. 
Just  see  what  God  has  done  for  you  during  this  past 
twelve  months : 

"  1st.     He  has  added  thirty  members  to  your  church. 


146  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  2d.     Among  these  your  own  son. 

"  3d.  He  has  supported  the  orphanage,  putting 
more  funds  in  your  hands  than  ever  before  for  the  care 
of  the  children. 

"4th.  He  has  given  you  $1,000  for  Faith  Cottage, 
and  $500  additional  for  the  endowment. 

"5th.  He  has  blessed  and  enlarged  the  Sabbath 
School,  crowning  your  efforts  to  give  it  a  home  with 
great  success. 

"  6th.  He  is  now  prospering  the  plans  for  the  build- 
ing of  your  Mission  Chapel. 

"  7th.  He  has  enabled  you  to  buy  a  new  press  for 
Out  Monthly  and  has  enlarged  its  sphere  of  usefulness. 

"  8th.  He  has  honoured  you  by  your  election  to  the 
position  of  reporter  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  And  now  perhaps  He  would  add  to  your  blessings 
by  giving  you  this  thorn  in  your  side  ;  for  it  is  written 
*  Woe  unto  you,  when  all  men  speak  well  of  you  ! ' " 

"  Heavenly  Father,  help  me  to  be  patient  under  this 
cursing  of  Shimei,  and  reckon  it  also  to  me  for  good." 

And  so  she  left  him  in  the  little  village  saying  softly 
to  himself,  "  It  seems  a  long,  long  time,  Mary,  that  I 
have  to  wait.  There  is  a  whole  lifetime  to  come  in 
first " — as  one  who  reads  a  good  novel  and,  wondering 
whether  the  dark  chapter  will  ever  end,  counts  the 
many  pages  of  the  story  yet  remaining. 

She  would  not  see  the  after  days  of  honour  and 
triumph,  not  even  little  Faith  Cottage,  whose  corner 
stone  was  so  soon  to  be  laid,  nor  would  her  human  eyes 
view  any  of  that  rapid  industrial  development  which 
would  transform  this  crossroads  village,  without  even  a 
bank,  into  a  thriving  little  city  with  every  modern  con- 
venience.    To  her   God  gave  the  ineffable  glory  of 


THE  ROD  OF  HERMES  147 

labouring  and  suffering  and  dying  in  the  dark  chapter, 
and  of  being  loved  forever  for  it. 

For  during  all  the  years  to  come  her  spirit  with  his 
would  walk  arm  in  arm  through  the  remaining  pages 
of  the  book,  whose  every  syllable  she  would  light  with 
the  living  sacrifice  she  had  made.  He  would  reach  out 
his  hands  for  her  and,  intangibly,  he  would  feel  her 
pressure.  Calling  her  name,  she,  inaudibly,  would  an- 
swer. Countless  times  he  would  look  for  her  and,  in- 
visibly, she  would  come.  And  when  the  long,  long 
time  had  been  spent  and  the  whole  lifetime  had  come 
in  first,  when  the  little  pastor  whose  loves  had  made 
him  great  had  gone  to  her,  leaving  sorrow  and  black- 
ness in  his  turn  upon  the  hearts  of  many  who  sorrowed, 
those  who  looked  sadly  through  his  secretest  desk 
would  find  her  hand  still  touching  his,  her  voice  speak- 
ing to  him  and  her  face  smiling  at  him  from  a  tiny 
package  of  faded  love-letters  written  to  him  in  the 
long,  long  ago.  And  one  of  them  ended  thus :  "  May 
God  bless  and  keep  you,  darling  husband,  until  you  get 
home." 

But  he  did  not  know  that  part  of  the  plot  as  he 
sadly  took  up  his  burden  again.  His  was  that  ancient 
darkness  of  eyes  blinded  by  the  sudden  transition  from 
brilliancy  to  blackness.  Only  he  felt  that  the  wand 
could  transmute  his  dross  into  gold.  And  that  w^hich 
he  would  himself  do  he  prayed  also  for  others  : 

"  My  little  Thornwell  is  two  years  old  to-day,"  he 
wrote  on  February  15,  18Y9.  "Poor  little  fellow,  had 
it  not  been  for  him  his  mother  would  have  been  alive 
to-day.  May  he  make  noble  use  of  a  life  purchased 
at  such  a  price." 


xiy 

FOE  THAT  FUTUEE 

Till  this  I  learned,  that  he  who  buildeth  well 
Is  greater  than  the  structure  that  he  rears, 

And  wiser  he  who  learns  that  Heaven  hears 
Than  all  the  wordy  wisdom's  letters  spell. 

THERE  is  nothing  quite  so  delicious  in  life  as  to 
watch  God  bring  things  to  pass. 
The  blow  has  fallen — the  disaster  has  come, 
the  struggle  is  long,  and  hard,  and,  oh,  so  wearisome  ! 
The  sources  of  aid  have  failed  one  by  one,  and  one  by 
one  the  bright  hopes  have  faded,  when — so  swiftly,  as 
quiet — a  voice  speaks  out  of  the  cloud. 

There  are  no  words  wherewith  to  express  that  infi- 
nite longing  for  help  which  this  man  felt  that  the  beau- 
tiful dream  might  come  true.  He  was  toiling  and 
suffering  and  praying  when  the  vicious  attacks  came  to 
threaten  all  his  hopes.  The  result  of  seven  years  of 
toil  seemed  jeopardized  by  them,  and  as  these  base 
charges  circulated  here  and  there  in  the  papers  and 
pulpits  and  pews  they  seemed  to  be  swearing  his  very 
soul  away  with  their  false  testimony.  How  could  a 
just  God  permit  such  a  thing ! 

Then  one  day  a  man  heard  of  them  and  his  face 
flushed  with  indignation  that  there  should  be  found  on 
earth  any  so  vile  as  to  attack  even  a  little  unknown 
minister,  working  for  God  and  his  orphans.  It  roused 
in  him  that  fine  counterblast  of  soul  that  would  bring 

148 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  149 

aid  to  the  lover  of  children.  So  he  told  another  of  it, 
a  woman  whom  he  knew  to  be  good  and  generous,  and 
one  happy  day  in  June  there  came  singing  through  the 
mails  a  check  for  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  little 
folks  at  Thornwell  who  had  so  loyal  a  champion.  It 
was  a  new  name  and  an  unknown  signature  as  of  a 
gift  out  of  the  vast  Beyond,  which  indeed  it  was,  from 
Within  the  Shadow  where  stood  one  watching,  caring 
for  His  own.  Thus  was  it  proven  once  more  that  while 
"  the  day  is  Thine,  the  night  also  is  Thine." 

The  name  signed  to  the  check  was  that  of  Mrs. 
Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  that  blessed  woman  whose  lovely 
benefactions,  touched  by  the  magic  wand,  were  to  make 
all  that  he  hoped  for  possible. 

Now  began  the  beautiful  years  of  expansion  in 
which  the  prayers  heard  in  secret  were  to  be  rewarded 
openly.  Through  the  long  night  he  had  believed  that 
the  sun  would  rise,  and  lo, — the  dawn ! 

But  somehow,  with  the  coming  of  the  large  sums, 
whose  pennies  have  become  dimes  and  whose  dimes 
have  grown  into  dollars,  we  feel  just  a  little  homesick 
for  the  old  want  and  poverty,  the  counting  of  the 
coppers  as  if  they  were  gold,  the  eager  joy  over  the 
dimes,  the  mingled  astonishment  and  happiness  over  a 
hundred  dollar  check.  For  there  is  something  pathetic 
in  the  faith  of  poverty  which  the  faith  of  wealth 
matches  only  with  grandeur.  Courage  that  does  not 
deal  in  amounts  shines  best  in  the  dark.  Faith  is  beau- 
tiful in  inverse  proportion  to  figures  involved,  as  in 
direct  proportion  it  is  sublime.  The  glory  of  this  man 
had  been  that  he  had  been  given  no  talent  at  all  to 
work  with  but  had  kept  believing  he  had  been  given 
one,  and   out  of  that   faith   he   had   made   ten   other 


150  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

talents.  Ten  times  nothing  had  built  an  orphanage 
and  was  about  to  build  a  college.  Sheer  love  of  God 
had  done  the  thing.  An  abandon  of  unselfishness  had 
mothered  it.  Faith  that  is  ever  allowed  to  suffer  and 
made  to  triumph,  a  confidence  in  the  Father  that  was 
serene  in  the  storm  and  undiramed  in  the  night,  a  soul 
that  was  content  but  never  satisfied,  an  ever  growing 
group  of  men  and  women  who  kept  feeling  the  warmth 
of  his  fire  and  drawing  near  thereunto  with  wonder 
and  praise,  buildings  rising  from  the  ground  to  witness 
that  silent  lips  have  moved  in  secret ;  these  are  but  a 
few  features  of  the  delightful  drama  which  the  Play- 
wright was  staging  in  a  spot  so  ideally  commonplace 
that  it  would  be  universally  meaningful. 

"  For  there  is  a  future,"  he  knew,  "  after  the  door  is 
opened  into  the  black  earth,  and  for  that  future  I  am 
living  and  working.'' 

The  story  of  his  life  in  the  years  1880  to  1884  is  the 
record  of  a  steadily  unfolding  work,  progressing  from 
darkness  into  light.  The  first  day  of  each  month  he 
wrote  out  his  plans  in  detail,  adding  his  prayer  for  their 
accomplishment  and  later  checked  them  off  one  by  one 
as  having  been  done.  By  July  of  1879  he  had  moved 
his  own  little  family  into  the  attic  of  the  first  building 
of  the  orphanage  and  had  hauled  the  first  load  of  rock 
to  begin  the  new  boys'  home,  which  was  to  be,  and  be 
called  Faith  Cottage.  The  same  month  he  noted  with 
joy  that  the  five  Presbyterian  families  connected  with 
his  church  when  he  assumed  the  pastorate  had  increased 
to  thirty.  He  is  ever  thinking  of  their  welfare.  In 
September  they  are  occupying  the  new  Sunday  School 
room  built  in  the  shape  of  a  T  and  he  is  thinking  how 
nice  it  will  be  to  erect  a  neat  and  pretty  library  room 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  151 

for  tte  young  men  of  Clinton.  As  1880  opens  he  is 
planning  to  buy  a  new  Universal  job  press  for  his 
printing  office.  Soon  his  father  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Presbyterian  church  on  James  Island, 
and  Miss  Pattie  Thornwell  has  collected  enough  money 
to  paint  the  Sunday  School  room. 

It  was  in  such  ordinary,  insignificant  things  that  he 
kept  looking  for  God — and  found  Him. 

As  spring  opens  he  writes  that  he  wants  to  do  "  as 
laborious  work  this  month  for  the  dear  Lord  as  is  pos- 
sible," as  part  of  which  he  starts  work  for  a  chapel  at 
Rockbridge,  three  miles  west  of  Clinton.  He  is  de- 
lightfully surprised  a  little  later  to  learn  that  Dr. 
Woodrow  has  nominated  him  as  Assembly  Reporter 
and  that  he  has  been  elected  unanimously. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  second  building  of  the  or- 
phanage, Faith  Cottage,  was  laid  on  July  28th,  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  church,  whose  member- 
ship had  increased  from  exactly  one  hundred  to  exactly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  last  ten  years. 

There  is  the  same  steady  progress  in  little  things 
that  seem  brilliant  because  of  inner  light  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  1881.  In  January  he  sells  his  home  and 
plans  to  build  a  new  one  nearer  the  orphanage.  Faith 
Cottage  is  opened  on  February  21st,  and  he  has 
dreamed  a  new  academic  building  as  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  progress  of  his  work  by  early  in  June.  Yet 
his  work  is  not  confined  to  the  orphanage,  but  on 
June  21st  he  resolves  to  build  a  Presbyterian  college 
in  Clinton,  *'  If  it  takes  always  to  do  it."  He  notes  the 
beautiful  comet  of  1881  in  the  northern  skies,  and  on 
July  24:th  he  and  Mr.  Bell  are  at  Rockbridge.  He  is 
preaching  his  first  sermon  there  and  is  gratified  over 


152  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

the  accomplishment  of  this  work  which  he  had  first 
planned  ten  years  ago.  It  was  this  same  year  that  saw 
both  a  Baptist  and  Methodist  church  organized  in  Clin- 
ton, of  which  he  says :  "  It  will  be  necessary  for  me  to 
work  harder  than  I  ev^er  did  before  to  secure  the  foun- 
dations of  my  church.  The  movement  to  establish  two 
new  churches  at  Clinton  unsettles  the  members.  It 
almost  creates  a  panic.  But  God,  in  His  mercy,  will, 
in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  bring  us  out  brighter 
than  ever.  Now,  our  church  succeeds  because  it  is 
the  only  church.  Hereafter,  it  must  succeed  because 
it  is  the  best  church.  I  am  determined  to  throw  my 
efforts  around  the  college  and  orphanage.  They  are 
to  be  the  bulwarks  of  Presbyterianism  here  in  giving 
us  a  Sunday  School,  prayer-meeting  and  congregation." 

Later,  in  1882,  he  began  his  work  on  the  orphanage 
seminary,  the  new  academic  building  with  its  chapel 
and  class  rooms  and  library  and  little  museum  and 
with  its  high  steeple, — the  most  beautiful  building  in 
Clinton.  *'I  shall  trust  and  trust,  and  so  the  work 
shall  be  done,"  he  says.  At  the  same  time  the  church 
building  is  being  remodelled,  and  on  August  20th  his 
college  got  its  charter.  He  spent  a  beautiful  vacation 
in  June  with  his  father  on  James  Island,  and  when 
fall  comes  Sim  Whaley  came  to  take  charge  of  the 
orphanage  farm,  and  Miss  Annie  Starr,  matron,  left,  to 
be  succeeded  by  Mrs.  Boyd. 

Thus  his  life  was  made  up  of  toiling  for  the  one 
purpose  in  many  forms.  "  I  love  dearly  this  work  for 
the  orphans,"  he  writes,  "  but  I  love  still  more  my 
preaching  work." 

In  1883,  on  another  trip  to  Charleston,  he  saw  elec- 
tric lights  for  the  first  time,  and  having  returned  re- 


"Home"  for  thirty-six  years 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  163 

freshed  and  invigorated  from  his  vacation  v^ith  his 
father,  he  seriously  considers  the  erection  of  a  wood- 
working estabhshment,  a  sort  of  technical  school  for 
the  boys  of  the  orphanage. 

In  April  he  introduced  to  his  Presbytery  Sam  Ful- 
ton, the  first  of  the  orphanage  boys  to  become  a 
minister,  as  a  candidate  for  that  holy  ofiice,  and  bap- 
tized the  child  of  Mollie  Clatworthy,  little  Willie  Lee 
Holmes,  the  first  orphanage  child,  during  the  closing 
prayer  of  the  Presbytery. 

April  finds  the  church  tower  being  built  and  work 
on  the  seminary  being  pushed  for  the  first  commence- 
ment of  Clinton  College,  which,  when  it  did  come, 
found  his  daughter,  Florence,  in  the  graduating  class, 
the  first  to  receive  a  diploma.  Colonel  Ball  pre- 
sented it. 

The  orphanage  seminary  was  dedicated  in  July  of 
the  same  year,  Dr,  J.  H.  Thorn  well  preaching  the  ser- 
mon, and  Governor  Thompson  later  presided  at  a  great 
meeting  at  the  orphanage,  in  which  he  said  things  so 
beautiful  about  the  "  Little  Minister  "  and  his  orphan- 
age that  it  made  him  hang  his  head  in  shame  and  take 
revenge  by  praising  the  Governor. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  most  famous  utterance 
of  Emerson  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  his  poems  or 
essays  but  was  saved  from  a  note-book  of  one  of  his 
students  and  seems  to  have  been  a  chance  remark  made 
in  the  course  of  a  lecture.  It  was  to  this  effect :  That 
if  any  man  would  do  a  thing  better  than  it  had  ever 
been  done  before,  even  if  it  were  only  to  make  a  better 
mouse  trap  than  his  neighbour,  though  he  lived  in  a 
wilderness,  the  world  would  make  a  beaten  pathway  to 
his  door.     This  is  what  happened  at  Clinton. 


154  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

So  in  November  he  starts  work  for  his  new  college 
building.  "  Lord  help  me ! "  he  exclaims.  "  Oh,  how 
many  ten  thousand  times  have  I  uttered  that  prayer  ? 
Yea,  Lord,  help  me,  then  the  big  job  will  be  over,"  he 
adds,  "and  we  shall  be  ready  for  the  next  step,"— a 
characteristic  of  his,  that  the  greater  his  achievement 
the  greater  his  dream. 

In  December  of  1883  there  occurred  one  of  those 
typical  events  in  his  life,  which  was  a  perfect  illustra- 
tion of  how  that  strange  providence  which  we  call 
God  was  teaching  him  His  will.  December  1st  came, 
but  no  funds  with  it.  "Thus  far  in  December,"  he 
writes,  "  which  hitherto  has  been  our  harvest  month, 
we  have  received  almost  nothing  for  the  orphanage.  I 
am  greatly  distressed  about  it.  Up  to  this  date  we 
have,  for  all  causes,  hardly  received  $150,  and  we  are 
in  sore  straits.  Lord,  Thou  didst  send  us  $1,000  each 
December  for  years  past,  and  now,  O  Lord,  our  bur- 
dens and  responsibilities  are  heavier  and  Thou  sendest 
us  nothing.  Lord,  Lord,  send  help  speedily.  We  need 
Thy  aid  in  great  measure." 

This  was  written  on  December  10th,  and  on  Decem- 
ber 27th  we  find  these  words  in  his  diary : 

"  God  has  permitted  us  to  have  a  delightful  and  a 
blessed  Christmas.  The  children  had  a  beautiful 
Christmas  and  good  behaviour.  On  Christmas  night 
I  received  $125  in  a  letter  and  in  addition  $400  (!)  for  a 
special  work.  I  do  not  yet  know  what  we  shall  use  it 
for,  but  I  want  it  to  go  either  to  the  endowment  fund 
or  to  some  special  building  work.  I  had  prayed  for 
$300  last  week  and  again  for  $600  this  week.  I  have 
received  both.  Our  receipts  for  this  month  have  al- 
ready overrun  $1,000   besides  at  least  $200  in  pro- 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  165 

visions.  O  God,  out  of  my  whole  soul  I  thank  Thee. 
The  nightmare  of  debt  has  been  cleared  away  and  now 
we  are  ready  for  new  things." 

So  that  when  1884:  comes  he  is  planning  a  new  build- 
ing, with  kitchen  and  storehouse  and  laundry  and  wind- 
mill, which  he  is  to  call  the  Beehive.  In  the  summer 
Mrs.  Liddell  comes  to  replace  "  Miss  Pattie  "  as  teacher 
at  the  orphanage,  she  having  decided  to  get  married 
and  move  to  Indiana,  and  Mrs.  Simon  ton  comes  to 
succeed  Mrs.  Boyd  as  matron,  and  then  while  Sam 
Fulton  is  planning  to  go  to  the  seminary  and  is 
*' preaching"  his  first  sermon  in  Clinton,  while  they 
are  raising  money  for  the  college  and  work  is  begin- 
ning on  the  Beehive,  Mrs.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  sends 
her  check  for  $1,200,  which  is  later  to  be  increased,  to 
build  a  whole  home  for  his  orphans  by  herself ! 

And  so  at  the  close  of  1884,  the  twentieth  year  of 
his  only  pastorate,  he  names  over  the  great  gifts  of  God 
to  himself.  There  were  the  church,  now  over  two 
hundred  strong,  nearly  furnished  and  steepled.  Our 
Monthly  slowly  but  surely  growing,  labours  in  Presby- 
tery and  Synod,  the  orphanage,  the  corner-stone  laying 
of  whose  original  home,  on  his  tenth  anniversary,  had 
been  preceded  by  three  hard  years  of  money  raising,  to 
which  there  had  now  been  added  a  home  for  boys 
(Faith  Cottage),  an  academic  building  (the  seminary),  a 
kitchen-laundry  building  (the  Beehive),  and  now  the 
new  home  for  boys  (McCormick  Home),  and  lastly  the 
Great  New  Job  (the  college).  And  as  he  named  them 
over,  adding  yet  his  own  home  and  Rockbridge  Chapel 
to  them,  and  even  the  digging  of  the  flower  pit  and  the 
old  laundry  which  had  been  turned  into  the  workshop 
and  Mr.  Scott's  house,  he  wrote  this  sentence,  under- 


156  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

scoring  and  double  spacing  it :  "  So  here  I  begin  to 
make  an  effort  to  prove  tliat  a  little  village  churcli  may 
hecome  a  tower  of  strength y 

But  that  was  only  the  brilliant,  social  meaning  of 
those  twenty  years  in  which  the  little  village  church 
was  also  the  scenery  in  the  background  staged  for  the 
setting  forth  of  a  deeper  truth.  That  was  his  masterly 
purpose,  as  it  was  also  His.  But  if  one  in  the  audience 
is  entitled  to  judge,  the  greater  purpose  was  to  tell  the 
old  story  in  a  new  way ;  to  whisper  again  the  love  of  a 
Father  to  children  who  are  very  young  and  very  weak, 
to  set  anew  a  human  soul  on  fire  that  he  might  glow 
with  God,  to  reveal  His  abiding  presence,  who  really 
will  do  as  much  for  anybody  anywhere,  who  will  do 
as  much  for  Him. 

"  Quod  semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ab  omnibus,"  the 
old  church  men  used  to  say  when  they  would  describe 
the  universal  faith.  "  That  which  ever,  everywhere, 
by  all "  is  believed.  That  is  also  the  rule  whereby 
prayers  are  answered.  It  is  an  old  saying  that  to 
reward  folly  would  be  to  people  the  world  with  fools. 
Similarly  to  play  favourites  in  prayer  answering  would 
be  to  people  the  world  with  the  lazy  and  inefficient. 
When  God  answers  pra3^er  He  answers  qualities  which 
everywhere,  ever,  by  all  should  be  possessed.  Each 
such  case  is  a  deed-parable,  each  of  them  is  a  ^'  Yes  " 
from  Jehovah  w^ho  never  fails  to  answer  the  question 
of  faith  proceeding  on  her  dangerous  way,  though  He 
hide  His  answer  among  passing  events  so  secretly  that 
he  who  would  count  his  mercies  must  search  for  them. 

It  matters,  indeed,  whether  a  little  village  may  become 
"  a  tower  of  strength  "  or  not  but  who  can  measure  the 
infinite  significance  of  one  "  Yes  "  from  the  sky  ? 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  157 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  1885,  that  fine  old 
missionary  preacher,  Rev.  Zelotes  Lee  Holmes,  died. 
His  had  been  the  happy  privilege  of  founding  the  little 
mission  church  at  Clinton  and  the  church  was  saddened 
by  the  news  of  his  death. 

In  May  following,  the  orphanage  office  had  received 
its  first  typewriter  and  the  president  was  becoming 
proficient  in  its  use.  He  was  forty -three  years  old  and 
had  founded  an  orphanage  and  a  college  by  hand  and 
kerosene,  but  only  because  typewriters  and  electric 
lights  had  not  yet  been  possible,  for  his  abiding  char- 
acteristic was  to  take  immediate  advantage  of  any  new 
improvement.  The  same  month  he  made  a  trip  to 
Washington  and  shook  hands  with  President  Cleve- 
land. 

His  children  spent  the  summer  vacation  with  their 
Grandfather  Jacobs  on  James  Island  and  when  they 
returned  he  writes :  "  The  children  are  all  back  with 
me  and  dearer  to  me  than  ever.  O  God,  bless  my 
children.  I  give  them  every  one  to  Thee.  Do  with 
them  as  seemeth  good  in  Thy  sight !  Oh,  how  eagerly 
I  long  for  some  of  my  boys  to  enter  the  ministry." 

He  was  not  to  wait  long  to  have  that  prayer  an- 
swered. In  June  of  the  very  next  year  his  son.  States, 
had  about  made  up  his  mind  to  do  that  very  thing. 
"  Oh,  that  God  would  keep  him  in  that  mind,"  his 
father  exclaimed,  "and  enable  him  to  love  the  Lord 
more  and  more." 

In  September  one  of  his  blessings  came  in  the  guise 
of  a  calamity,  for  the  front  wall  of  the  new  college 
building  gave  way,  happily  without  loss  of  life,  neces- 
sitating a  repair  bill  of  only  seventy-five  dollars,  which 
was  quadruply  oversubsqribed.    In  October  the  faculty 


158  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

of  the  college  was  chosen,  Rev.  R.  P.  Smith  at  the 
head  as  president.  As  the  opening  day  approached, 
he  felt,  in  his  own  words,  as  if  "  I  have  now  laid  pretty 
much  the  foundation  of  all  the  work  I  expect  to  do  in 
life.  But  every  department  of  it  is  to  be  pressed  on  to 
a  higher  fulfillment  of  plans.  I  have  to  make  a  college 
out  of  our  college — a  noble  charity  out  of  the  orphan- 
age, a  splendid  church  out  of  my  church,  a  better  paper 
out  of  Our  Monthly^  and  to  be  a  leader  in  Presbyterial 
labours." 

Yet  he  was  almost  immediately  at  his  old  construct- 
ive task  again,  urging  Mr.  M.  S.  Bailey  to  give  Clinton 
a  bank,  and  getting  ready  to  twist  the  Seaboard  Air 
Line  out  of  its  course  so  that  his  "  city  "  might  have 
another  railroad.  On  February  15th  ('86)  he  hauled 
the  first  load  for  his  new  printing  oifice,  and  at  last,  on 
his  forty -fourth  birthday,  on  March  15,  1886,  his  col- 
lege was  happily  opened.  "  This  day,"  he  writes,  "  by 
the  goodness  of  God,  I  was  enabled  to  set  in  order  the 
Presbyterian  College  of  Clinton,  South  Carolina.  At 
9 :  30  A.  M.,  in  the  presence  of  eighty  or  more  students 
and  the  six  teachers,  I  offered  the  first  prayer  ever 
offered  in  the  house  and  solemnly  gave  it  to  the  Lord. 
At  3  p.  M.  we  met  in  the  college  chapel,  the  pupils  of 
the  orphanage  being  present,  and  I  addressed  the  as- 
sembly as  to  the  *  Manner  of  the  Kingdom.'  We  also 
had  addresses  from  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Barnes.  After 
this  I  succeeded  in  persuading  the  association  to  resolve 
to  raise  one  thousand  dollars  to  complete  the  house,  and 
surely  it  will  be  done."  In  those  last  few  words  is  re- 
vealed a  charming  characteristic  of  this  man  who  kept 
steadily  winning  great  victories.  It  was  his  apprecia- 
tion of  little  victories,    "Each  baby  was  to  him  an 


FOR  THAT  FUTURE  159 

adult,  potentially.  It  was  a  little  college  but  it  would 
grow.  All  men  who  had  ever  amounted  to  much  had 
done  so.  He  refused  to  deny  himself  a  great  future  by 
failing  to  trust  a  little  present. 

And  so  we  come  to  the  close  of  the  fierce  struggle 
period  of  his  life.  For  forty-four  years  he  has  been 
passing  through  poverty,  obscurity,  danger,  and  every 
conceivable  discouragement.  Single-handed,  with  a 
broken  sword  he  had  faced  every  enemy  bitterly 
known  to  those  who  contend  for  the  ideal  thing.  He 
had  developed  a  magnificent  courage  and  a  faith  that 
knew,  in  this  arena  where  the  mighty  depend  wisely 
on  the  One  alone.  Fear  and  hope  and  prayer  and 
trust  and  gratitude  and  love  had  wrought  their  blessed 
ministry  in  his  soul,  had  expressed  themselves  in  his 
life,  and  henceforth,  because  he  had  played  his  part  so 
well  that  he  knew  not  how  well  he  had  played  it,  his 
Lord  was  to  set  him  in  a  broad  place. 

Like  John  of  old,  he  was  ready  now  to  be  shown  to 
Israel. 


XY 
<'FOR  THY  SAKE^' 

Thus,  silent,  I  have  heard  the  Voiceless  speak. 
The  Formless  I  have  seen  walk  by  my  side, 

And  I  have  touched  the  hand  of  One,  my  guide, 
Whom  all  the  vy^orld  could  find  if  it  would  seek. 

THERE  is  this  very  beautiful  thing  about  one's 
love  for  God :  If  a  man  really  loves  God  he 
loves  everything  that  God  has  made.     This 
would  seem  to  be  the  universe. 

It  was  for  that  reason  that  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  loved  to 
travel,  which  love  had  lured  him  on  from  his  earliest 
days.  Only  a  few  commonplace  trips  had  come  into 
his  life  but  he  saw  much  in  them,  and  they  gave  him 
that  greater  joy  which  is  born  of  an  unlimited  admira- 
tion for  and  gratitude  to  God.  One  cannot  understand 
even  his  attachment  to  Clinton  without  remembering 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  as  real  and  as  near  to  him  as 
Faith  Cottage.  He  took  his  religion  so  seriously  that 
it  did  to  him  what  its  custom  is,  it  made  him  uniquely 
great. 

Now  for  many  long  years  he  had  planned  a  trip  to 
Europe.  During  his  boyhood  days  it  had  been  his 
dream  and  while,  for  a  score  of  years,  he  struggled  in 
poverty  and  debt  the  dim  hope  of  it  cheered  and  tanta- 
lized him  alternately.  The  time  had  come  now  to  save 
for  it. 

160 


''FOR  THY  SAKE"  161 

So  one  day  he  set  aside  his  first  five  dollars.  He 
would  begin  if  it  took  "always." 

But  He  had  other  uses  for  that  five  dollars,  although 
it  was  the  only  five  dollars  in  the  house  at  the  time. 

For  a  poor  old,  broken-down  Presbyterian  came  that 
evening  to  see  him,  and  being  invited  to  stay  all  night 
told  so  sad  a  story  that  he  was  given  that  live  dollars 
to  pay  his  way  to  Charleston.  In  doing  it  the  giver 
said  to  his  Friend :  "  Lord,  I  give  this  to  this  poor  man 
for  Thy  sake.  Eepay  me  if  Thou  seest  I  need  it."  It 
was  a  sweet  and  daring  challenge  to  Him  who  once 
said,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

And  when  the  answer  came,  a  few  days  later,  it  was 
in  sixtyfold  measure.  For  he  received  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  McCormick,  the  good  angel  by  whom  He  sent, 
containing  a  check  for  three  hundred  dollars  with  the 
request  that  he  use  it  in  a  trip  to  Europe ! 

It  was  very  wonderful.  But  then  one  should  not  ex- 
pect a  God  to  repay  kindness  in  a  niggardly  measure. 

Here  was  a  man  who  was  actually  more  interested 
in  working  for  God  than  he  was  in  working  for  him- 
self. One  of  the  most  astonishing  sentences  in  his 
whole  diary  he  had  penned,  when,  in  May,  1881,  he 
began  building  his  own  new  home.  "I  have  begun 
work  on  my  house,"  he  v^^rote,  "  but  for  some  reason  I 
do  not  take  the  pleasure  in  it  that  I  would  if  it  were 
for  some  suitable  purpose  connected  with  the  orphan- 
age." He  was  utterly  absorbed  in  his  spiritual  adven- 
ture and  is  it  surprising  that  he  should  be  so  fascinated 
when  the  next  entry  reads :  "  Such  things  as  this  have 
happened  to  me  over  and  over  again  these  many  years. 
Last  week  at  each  of  the  three  mails,  I  did  not  receive 


162  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

a  single  cent  for  the  orphanage.  It  is  true  that  we  did 
not  need  the  money  and  so  this  did  not  distress  me. 
But  on  Monday  morning  my  mind  was  greatly  exer- 
cised with  the  longing  for  a  future  life,  and  Satan  sug- 
gested a  hundred  doubts.  My  soul  was  darkened. 
Then  I  prayed  the  Lord  for  a  clear  light,  asking  Him 
to  give  me  ocular  proof.  I  thought  of  what  He  said 
to  Ahaz  and  then  I  asked  that  the  sign  should  be,  that 
at  each  mail  this  week  I  should  receive  one  letter  con- 
taining aid  for  the  orphanage.  JSTow,  it  often  happens 
thus — I  will  get  eight  or  ten  letters  with  money  one 
mail,  and  nothing  for  several  mails  thereafter,  but  this 
week  though  I  received  many  letters,  yet  at  each  mail 
/  received  just  one  money  letter.  What  a  good  God  is 
mine.  Hundreds  of  times  Thou  hast  given  me  the 
thing  I  asked." 

And  now  He  had  given  him  a  thing  he  had  not  asked, 
a  trip  to  the  wonder-lands  of  the  old  world.  As  if  to 
crown  his  going  with  added  love,  his  congregation 
made  up  a  little  purse  for  him  also.  He  was  the  first 
Clintonian  to  "  go  abroad,"  as  he  was  the  first  to  build 
a  two-story  house,  or  a  steepled  church,  or  to  plan  a 
bank  or  a  cotton-mill,  or  to  set  type  and  print  a  paper, 
or  to  write  a  poem,  or  build  an  orphanage  or  college. 
He  was  Christian  civilization  set  down  in  a  little  obscure, 
dilapidated,  crossroads  piece  of  a  place.  For  twenty- 
two  years  he  had  poured  out  his  best  thoughts,  noblest 
ideals  and  finest  purposes  there  as  if  God  were  present 
and  bushes  could  burn  in  any  desert,  and  now  he  leaves 
for  the  fulfillment  of  a  darling  wish  borne  on  the  gen- 
erosity of  friends  near  and  far.  The  bread  that  he  had 
cast  upon  the  waters  he  had  found,  after  many  days. 

To  trace  the  route  and  tell  the  story  of  his  trip  is 


''FOR  THY  SAKE"  163 

not  the  important  thing,  but  again  it  is  his  spirit  that 
attracts  our  attention,  ever  cherishing  his  new  experi- 
ences and  training  them  also  to  serve  his  purposes. 
Of  course  he  visited   the  Stockvrell  Orphanage  and 
heard  the  great  Spurgeon  in  his  tabernacle,  counting 
him  hardly  the  equal   of  Girardeau  or  Palmer  as  an 
orator  and  thinker.     Of  the  orphanage  he  writes  :  "  It 
is  far  larger  than  I  thought  and  I  am  delighted  with 
it.     The  buildings  are  grand  in  their  way,  everything 
in  perfect  order  and  very  neat.     The  children  looked 
healthy  and  were  to  start  on  their  month's  vacation  (I 
am  always  getting  in  just  in  the  nick  of  time).    Spurgeon 
has  fine  playgrounds  for  his  children— they  attend  the 
tabernacle  preaching— are  a  good  set  of  children— 
don't   fight  (?).     I  like  his  cottage  arrangement.     He 
keeps  the  children  till  fourteen,  and  then  the  girls  stay 
two  years  longer  to  help  in  domestic  work.     I  don't 
like  that  or  his  dormitory  plan,  but  the  work  is  splen- 
didly done  from  his  point  of  view,  that  is,  the  English." 
He  sat  in  the  old  stone  chimney  seat  where  Shake- 
speare the  boy  sat,  "  and  caught  no  inspiration."     "  One 
despairs  after  seeing  Oxford,"  he  exclaimed,  thinking 
doubtless  of  the  five  thousand  dollar  beginning  of  his 
own  college.    He  thought  the  music  at  St.   Paul's, 
where  Canon  Liddon  preached,  was  superb,  but  "  dear 
me,  I  am  no  Episcopalian  ! "    He  heard  Dr.  Joseph 
Parker  in  the  City  Temple.     "  Spurgeon  attacked  Evo- 
lution, but  Parker  seemed  to  think  it  but  a  part  of  a 
not  understood  plan."     He  visited  the  National  Art 
Gallery  and    the    Kensington   Art  Museum  and,   of 
course,  Westminster  Abbey.    He  liked  touring  England, 
but  "  in  all  my  tramp  I  have  not  seen  a  watermelon,  or 
a  peach,  or  a  banana,  or  a  darky.     And  while  I  recog- 


164  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JA(X)BS 

nize  all  I  see,  there  are  multitudes  of  things  I  do  not 
see.  I  have  not  seen  rice  or  hominy  since  I  left  home. 
If  this  absence  of  things  I  love  is  to  go  on  for  a  month 
or  so,  I'll  get  homesick." 

Afterwards  came  Holland  with  its  quaint  communities 
and  windmills,  and  Belgium,  including  something  more 
than  Brussels,  and  then  we  find  him  on  the  Rhine.  "  I 
too  am  enthusiastic  henceforth  over  the  beautiful, 
populous,  antique,  wonderful  Rhine."  He  found 
Heidelberg  ablaze  with  banners,  for  the  Crown  Prince, 
Frederick  William,  was  in  towm  and  it  w^as  the  five 
hundredth  anniversary  of  Heidelberg  University,  so 
rooms  being  at  ten  dollars  the  day  his  visit  was  short. 
He  took  courage  again  about  his  college,  however, 
thinking  that  it  would  have  buildings  better  than 
Heidelberg  before  its  serai-centennial.  It  pleased  him 
to  note  that  in  Germany  they  seemed  to  know  what 
corn  is  but  no  mules  nor  darkies  nor  turkey  buzzards 
nor  watermelons.  He  turned  on  his  heel  at  Milan, 
having  seen  the  wonderful  cathedral  there  and  noted 
the  difference  between  Catholic  Italy  and  bonny  Eng- 
land or  happy,  contented  Germany. 

He  came  back  by  Mont  Blanc,  Berne,  Geneva. 
"  We  thought  the  ascent  of  the  Alps  unutterably 
grand,"  he  wrote,  "  as  we  came  in  from  Italy,  but  lan- 
guage fails  me  to  describe  the  miles  on  miles  that  fol- 
loAved.  Every  combination  to  thrill  the  heart  of  an 
enthusiast  over  nature  was  there.  The  snow-covered 
mountains,  tremendous  cliffs,  waterfalls  till  it  was 
weariness  to  count  them,  beautiful  lakes — (Zug  and 
Lucerne),  quaint,  high-perched  villages,  sharp  eyries  for 
the  eagle,  cliffs  and  crags  and  boulders,  plains  strewn 
with  mighty  masses  of  brecchia,  foaming  torrents,  the 


"FOR  THY  SAKE^'  165 

quaintly  dressed  people,  the  oft-recurriDg  tunnels — so 
that  we  would  dash  out  of  a  mountain  to  hang  for  a 
few  moments  in  dizzy  space  and  then  right  into  the 
darkness  of  night  again.  I  never  can  forget  this  day's 
experiences !  I  have  walked  where  God  has  wrought 
His  miracles  of  power,  and  I  have  seen  the  stupendous 
works  of  man  made  in  the  image  of  God." 

Thence  to  Paris,  where  he  found  letters  from  home  ! 
In  Paris  he,  by  chance,  wandered  into  the  Catholic 
church  from  which  the  tocsin  for  the  Massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew  sounded.  '*  No  wonder  I  felt  ill  at 
ease ! "  he  exclaimed  later.  Of  Paris  he  says,  "  I  have 
seen  no  court-house  like  the  Hotel  de  Yiile  of  Brussels  ; 
no  cathedral  like  that  in  Milan ;  no  museum  like  that 
in  London  ;  no  street  as  picturesque  as  Princess  Street 
in  Edinburgh ;  no  raib^oad  so  majestic  as  the  St.  Got- 
thard  ;  yet  Paris,  in  its  way,  is  first  of  all  the  cities  I 
have  seen,— but  the  women  are  only  men  in  France." 

And  thence  home :  "  The  first  sight  that  greeted  my 
eye  was  a  darky !  the  next  was  a  great  fruit  store  and 
plenty  of  bananas  !  And  the  streets  were  so  muddy  ! 
And  oh,  what  immensity  of  telegraph  wires !  and  what 
a  variety  of  architecture  !  " 

And  the  next  thing  to  greet  him  was  news  of  the 
earthquake !  Charleston  had  been  severely  shaken 
and  the  whole  Appalachian  Seaboard  felt  tremors  of 
greater  or  less  severity  for  months  thereafter.  At  Clin- 
ton there  had  been  no  damage  but  much  fright. 

He  had  a  royal  reception  at  the  first  prayer-meeting 
after  his  arrival.  He  found  that  Mr.  Scott  had  finished 
painting  the  McCormick  Home  and  that  the  plastering 
on  the  second  floor  of  the  college  building  was  finished. 
He   wrote    the   story  of  the  Great  Trip  in  the  little 


166  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

diary  with  its  memory  leaves  of  flowers  brought  from 
Europe,  hawthorne  from  Stratford  on  Avon,  a  leaf 
from  Shakespeare's  tree,  pressed  flowers  from  Brunig 
Pass  and  Mont  Blanc,  an  ivy  leaf  from  old  Heidelberg, 
and  settled  down  to  sermons,  and  funerals,  and  wed- 
dings, and  endeavouring  to  raise  money  to  finish  plaster- 
ing another  floor  of  the  college  and  to  feed  and  clothe 
little  orphan  children  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

His  college  opened  on  September  22d  with  seventy 
pupils !  It  pleased  him  and  he  exclaims :  "  I  have  a 
greater  and  heavier  work  to  do  in  this  college  than  even 
in  the  orphanage  !  " 

Perhaps  he  was  thinking  of  Oxford  and  Heidelberg. 

And  having  seen  and  measured  both  he  had  not 
despaired. 


XVI 
NOONDAY 

He,  a  greedless  man  and  needless, 

Sanctified  the  sod, 
For  a  deedless  church  and  creedless 

Struck,  with  budded  rod, 
In  a  heedless  world  and  redeless 

Glowed  with  God. 

ON  March  15,  1887,  Wm.  P.  Jacobs  was  forty- 
five  years  old  and  at  the  height  of  his  physical 
and  intellectual  power.  For  twenty-three 
years  he  had  been  the  pastor  of  the  Clinton  Church. 
It  had  been  the  sword  wherewith  he  had  struck  for  his 
ideals.  He  had  been  labouring  with  no  instrument  not 
universally  possessed  nor  was  his  God  a  new  one.  Yet 
things  had  kept  happening  with  him  that  were  and  are 
exceedingly  uncommon ;  though  they  always  happen 
under  the  same  conditions.  It  was  the  old  story  of  the 
laboratory  experiment  which  may  be  performed  with 
equal  certainty  in  Clinton  or  London  if  only  the  same 
reagents  are  used.  In  the  clear  white  light  of  his 
midday  sun  we  may  well  look  upon  this  character,  so 
utterly  unique  and  so  amazingly  blessed  of  God,  asking 
of  the  record  an  explanation  of  his  power  and  remem- 
bering that  God  plays  no  favourites. 

We  sketch  briefly  the  movement  of  his  personal  his- 
tory during  this  noonday  period  from  1887-1894  in- 
clusive.    As  1889  opens  we  find  him  writing  from  his 

167 


168  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

new  desk  in  the  printing  office,  calling  that  day  a 
"  Stathmos  in  my  journey  towards  the  great  work  of 
the  future,  my  literary  and  theological  efforts."  This 
was  his  one  beautiful  dream  that  he  did  not  ever  find 
time  to  realize.  Gifted  with  a  pen  that  could  write 
with  either  tears  or  blood  he  used  it  in  winning  bread 
for  his  orphans,  life  for  his  college  and  souls  for  his 
church. 

"  I  have  been  very  busy  all  this  month,"  he  writes, 
"  answering  letters  received  for  the  orphanage.  I  love 
this  work.  It  is  intensely  practical  but  the  Master 
seems  to  have  appointed  me  to  it.  I  would  rather  be 
engaged  upon  literary  work,  work  which  would  require 
more  freedom  from  interruption  than  I  get  now,  where 
so  many  people  want  to  see  me  on  all  sorts  of  things 
and  so  many  odds  and  ends  of  jobs  have  to  be  attended 
to.  But  I  must  begin.  The  years  are  speeding  by.  I 
am  reading  a  good  deal,  mainly  travels  and  lighter 
theology  and  history.  It  rests  me  to  read  such  and 
gives  me  bright,  fresh  ideas  for  Sunday  work." 

In  April  his  daughter  surprised  him  with  the  news 
of  her  engagement  to  Mr.  Wm.  J.  Bailey,  son  of  his 
lifelong  friend,  M.  S.  Bailey.  "  Am  I  growing  old  ?  " 
he  asks.  ''  Am  I  soon  to  have  a  daughter  married  ?  " 
The  following  month  he  was  sent  as  a  commissioner  to 
the  Assembly  in  St.  Louis  where  he  was  plunged  into 
the  midst  of  the  intense  debate  on  Organic  Union  with 
the  Northern  Church.  Shortly  after  his  return  his  son 
Ferdinand  was  graduated  from  his  college.  "  How 
quickly  time  passes,"  he  murmurs.  *' Eternity  will 
soon  be  here ! "  The  year  is  filled  out  with  the  custom- 
ary duties  in  church  and  orphanage  and  college.  In 
September  he  writes : 


NOONDAY  169 

"  Our  college  has  opened  splendidly.  We  have 
ninety  already  and  the  probability  is  for  a  still  greater 
increase  of  patronage.  I  am  sure  that  we  will  have 
over  a  hundred  this  year.  In  the  orphanage  and  college 
there  are  now  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  young 
people.  This  is  a  large  number  for  me  to  be  respon- 
sible  for.  I  have  a  noble  field  for  work.  How  often  I 
recall  the  talk  with  Dr.  G — —  in  18Y3,  when  he  tried 
to  convince  me  that  I  should  seek  a  broader  field  of 
labour  than  poor  little  Clinton,  and  I  replied  that  their 
souls  were  as  much  worth  saving  as  any,  anywhere. 
Blessed  be  my  Master,  who  has  rewarded  me  and  is 
doing  for  me  more  abundantly  than  I  dared  then  to 
ask.  And  there  are  yet  things  before  us, — what,  I 
cannot  say,  but  there  is  growth  for  my  little  church  in 
every  department." 

As  the  year  closes  he  is  already  seriously  considering 
the  advisability  of  giving  up  his  church  work  and  de- 
voting all  his  time  to  "  The  Church  of  the  Fatherless." 

As  the  following  year  opens  he  speaks  of  prospects 
brighter  than  ever  and  of  harder  and  better  work.  But 
soon  calamity  is  upon  him.  In  March  Mr.  W.  B.  Bell, 
faithful  elder  and  long-time  treasurer  of  both  church 
and  orphanage,  died.  President  Smith  resigned  his 
position  at  the  head  of  the  college.  Mr.  Watts  left  the 
management  of  the  orphanage  farm.  North  Carolina 
began  talking  of  emulating  his  example  by  founding  an 
orphanage  of  their  own,  thus  cutting  off  his  income 
from  that  great  Synod.  ''  God  speed  them,"  he  prayed. 
In  March  he  devoted  six  hours  of  each  of  four  days  to 
writing  the  story  of  the  orphanage  in  a  little  booklet, 
**  The  Lord's  Care ; "  and  in  April  he  is  delighted  over 
the  reception  of  his  son  Ferdinand  as  a  candidate  for 


170  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

the  gospel  ministry  by  the  Presbytery.  On  May  2Sth 
the  corner-stone  of  Memorial  Hall  was  laid.  It  was  a 
new  triumph  and  responsibility  towards  which  his 
attitude  was, — "  What  a  call  the  Lord's  blessing  is  to 
an  increased  activity.  ...  I  can  do  anything 
with  Thee  to  strengthen  me !  "  By  the  middle  of 
August  he  had  secured  a  new  president  for  the  college, 
Prof.  J.  W.  Kennedy,  and  on  September  12th  his 
daughter  was  married. 

In  the  very  first  month  of  1889  he  bought  five 
shares  of  building  and  loan  stock  which  he  calculated 
would  amount  to  $1,000  by  1896,  when  he  was  hoping 
to  enjoy  ''  the  one  great  pleasure  of  my  life — a  trip  to 
the  Holy  Land."  In  April  he  was  happy  over  giving 
his  second  son,  States,  to  the  ministry.  That  same 
spring  came  the  first  serious  break  in  his  health.  His 
general  condition  was  bad  and  his  throat  failed.  It 
w^as  necessary  to  have  an  operation  on  it  and  for 
months  thereafter  he  was  prohibited  from  speaking 
publicly.  He  gave  up  Rockbridge  permanently.  In 
May  he  dedicated  Memorial  Hall  and  that  same  day 
he  received  a  telegram  from  Mrs.  McCormick  offering 
another  building.  What  a  contrast  to  those  three  long 
years  of  anxious  struggle  during  which  he  painfully 
collected  the  money  for  his  first  building.  In  June 
Erskine  College  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
In  September  his  dream  of  many  years  is  beginning  to 
be  realized  and  Clinton  seems  in  a  fair  way  to  get 
another  railroad.  In  September  he  is  sick  in  bed  and 
for  the  first  time  in  twenty-five  years  failed  to  get  to 
Presbytery.  Ferdinands  Sr.  and  Jr.,  his  father  and  son, 
filled  his  pulpit  for  him.  Grading  on  the  big  new  rail- 
road began,  the  splendid  trunk  line,  the  Georgia,  Caro- 


NOONDAY  lYl 

lina  and  Northern,  that  was  to  connect  New  York  and 
Clinton  and  Atlanta,  but  it  was  not  so  wonderful  a  day 
as  when  the  little  Laurens  railroad  ran  up  to  the  very 
heart  of  Clinton  in  that  other  miracled  hour  of  the 
long  ago. 

On  January  6,  1890,  Prof.  W.  S.  Lee,  his  splendid 
coadjutor  in  the  high  school  and  college,  died,  and  in 
March  Dr.  Boozer  was  critically  ill.  One  night  the 
prayer-meeting  interceded  mightily  for  his  recovery. 
On  the  vfay  home  the  pastor  stopped  by  his  home  and 
was  told  that  a  sudden  change  for  the  better  had  just 
taken  place.  He  steadily  recovered.  In  April  our 
orphanage  and  college  builder  is  planning  a  modern 
stone  church  building  for  his  flock,  costing  not  less 
than  $20,000,  with  electric  or  gas  lights  and  every 
modern  convenience.  Such  was  the  result  of  the  days 
of  struggle  to  get  enough  money  to  paint  the  Sunday 
School  room.  In  June  he  notes  happily  his  son  Ferdi- 
nand's success  in  raising  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
college  building.  The  same  month  his  second  son. 
States,  is  graduated  from  college,  and  with  his  diploma 
wins  the  Essayist's  Medal.  By  this  time  Clinton  has  a 
full  thousand  inhabitants ! 

In  July  came  his  visit  to  New  York  and  Niagara, 
which  he  "did"  thoroughly  though  his  ill  health  pre- 
vented the  fullest  enjoyment.  Upon  his  return  the 
new  railroad  (the  "  G.  C.  &  N.")  was  running  its  engines 
into  town.  "  God  grant  that  it  may  be  for  Plis  glor}^ 
and  the  good  of  His  cause  here,"  was  his  prayer.  The 
Christmas  Sabbath  of  that  year  saw  his  son  States 
preaching  for  him.  "God  help  the  lad,"  he  prayed. 
Eight  of  his  members  were  now  studying  for  the 
ministry ! 


172  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

In  February  of  1891  he  received  a  heavy  blow  in 
the  death  of  President  J.  W.  Kennedy,  whose  splendid 
ability  and  great  popularity  had  steadied  the  work  of 
the  college.  The  same  month  his  son  Ferdinand  was 
chosen  professor  of  Biblical  and  religious  literature 
in  the  institution.  He  notes  this  with  pleasure,  re- 
marking that  in  certain  lines  the  boy  had  greater  abil- 
ities than  his  father.  In  May  he  dug  the  foundation 
for  the  Nellie  Scott  Library  at  the  orphanage,  and  in 
July  was  nursing  States  who  had  come  down  with 
typhoid  fever  in  Bishop ville.  On  September  9th  he 
married  Ferdinand  to  Miss  Elliott  Duckett  of  Clin- 
ton. 

In  1892  he  entered  upon  his  fiftieth  year  of  life, 
which  found  him  busy  finishing  the  Nellie  Scott 
Library  and  beginning  the  Technological  School  for 
Boys.  In  April  his  friend,  Gus  Smyth,  wrote  pledging 
two  thousand  dollars  for  the  Augustine  Home,  a  me- 
morial to  his  little  son.  The  autumn  brought  a  delight- 
ful trip  to  Barium  Springs  Orphanage,  the  new  institu- 
tion of  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  modelled  after 
and  inspired  by  Thornwell,  where  he  dedicated  two 
buildings,  receiving  a  beautiful  tribute  of  thanks  from 
the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  for  his  touching  address. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  established  the  Mission  Training 
School  at  the  orphanage  for  the  purposo  of  efficiently 
training  young  women  for  foreign  and  home  mission 
work. 

On  his  fifty-first  birthday  he  was  happy  over  the 
purchase  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  by  a  company 
of  his  own  congregation  and  its  removal  to  Clinton. 
This  event  completed  the  making  of  his  town  the 
Presbyterian  center  of  the  state.     The  little  village 


NOONDAY  173 

church  had  indeed  become  a  tower  of  strength  even  as 
he  had  prayed  and  planned. 

On  July  9,  1893,  he  appeared  on  the  streets  of  Clin- 
ton for  the  first  time  on  his  bicycle,  a  machine  which 
for  the  next  decade  was  to  be  invaluable  to  him  in  his 
pastoral  visiting  as  well  as  orphanage  work  where  the 
covering  of  distance  without  buggy,  horse  or  auto- 
mobile was  necessary.  On  August  lYth  he  visited  the 
World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  continually  on  the  lookout 
for  new  ideas  that  might  help  Clinton  or  the  orphans. 
On  November  30th  he  buried  Mr.  Green,  the  last  link 
remaining  of  his  official  corps  of  thirty  years  before, 
and  the  same  autumn  organized  the  first  class  of  the 
New  Mission  Training  School  with  a  membership  of 
three,  Miss  Ella  Bell,  Miss  Janie  Duckett  and  Miss 
Maggie  Burleyson. 

Eighteen-ninety-f our  found  him  busy  gathering  funds 
for  the  purchase  of  a  Babcock  press  with  his  son  Dil- 
lard  in  charge  of  his  printing  office  and  serving  as 
general  assistant  in  all  the  other  orphanage  work.  He 
was  delighted  with  "  the  way  the  lad  takes  hold." 

The  death  of  his  father  on  March  11th  was  the  great 
sorrow  of  the  year,  which  was  not  without  its  other 
sore  trials.  In  September  he  united  his  youngest  sister, 
Bessie,  and  Prof.  Chas.  E.  Little  of  the  Peabody  College 
for  Teachers  in  wedlock,  and  in  November  travelled  a 
thousand  miles  to  preach  one  sermon,  dedicating  the 
new  church  of  his  son  States  at  Columbus,  Mis- 
sissippi. 

In  all  these  years  he  kept  hard  at  work  on  matters 
large  and  small.  "  To  be  holy,  to  be  useful,  to  be  wise, 
I  am  after  these  three ! "  he  declared,  and  when  troubles 
assailed  him  in  church  and  orphanage  and  during  this 


174  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

period,  especially  in  the  college,  he  wrote  in  his  little 
memorandum  book  the  famous  words  of  Shaftesbury : 
"Let  no  man  despair  in  a  good  cause;  let  him  per- 
severe, persevere,  persevere ! " 

Such  were  the  simple,  ordinary  events  of  noonday 

life  told  as  a  chronicle.  There  would  appear  to  be 
nothing  remarkable  about  them.     But  there  was. 

Take  for  example  an  ordinary  day's  work.  Let  him 
tell  the  story  of  it :  "  This  day,  rose  in  a  heavy  rain ; 
read  the  "Word ;  then  breakfast  and  worship ;  letters 
written ;  proofs  corrected ;  articles  for  Our  Monthly ; 
got  Ferdie  off  for  Princeton,  N.  J. ;  then  a  visitor,  next 
— three  hours'  session  of  the  faculty ;  dinner ;  the  sick 
children  all  visited ;  the  workmen  started  on  two  build- 
ings ;  a  visit  to  our  dying  Brother  Milner ;  then  to 
Mrs.  Jones' ;  then  to  Mrs.  Vance's  and  Florence ;  then 
to  see  Hale  Shands  who  is  ver}'-  ill ;  then  to  the  college 
and  Memorial  Hall ;  supper ;  took  the  children  to  the 
Baptist  Church;  after  that,  a  call  at  the  McCormick 
Home,  and  at  10  p.  ^i.  answered  a  summons  to  see 
Mr.  Little's  dying  child  ;  numberless  other  little  things. 


NOONDAY  175 

That  is  a  sample  of  my  day's  work,  and  I  am  still 
entertaining  a  house  full  of  work,  and  enjoying  my 
vacation ! " 

This  again,  while  perhaps  a  trifle  fuller  day  than 
those  of  most  men,  would  seem  to  the  casual  observer 
to  have  nothing  unusual  in  it. 

But  there  was. 

For  when  we  examine  it  carefully,  it  is  as  if  a  micro- 
scope were  turned  on  common  sand  and  a  million 
diamond-brilliaut  surfaces  appeared. 

*'I  asked  the  Lord,"  he  writes  on  one  such  day,  "the 
first  day  of  this  week,  to  direct  me  by  an  act  of  Provi- 
dence, as  to  whether  a  certain  matter  I  had  committed 
to  Him  would  be  cared  for  by  Him,  and  whether  I 
must  trust  that  His  disposition  of  it  would  be  for  my 
good,  the  good  of  His  work  committed  to  me,  and  of 
all  concerned.  I  asked  Him  to  give  His  answer — yes 
— by  sending  me  this  week  some  special  sum  of  money 
at  such  time  and  in  such  way  as  that  my  mind  would 
be  surely  convinced. 

"  On  Monday,  Tuesday,  no  such  evidence  came. 

"  This  day,  the  20th,  is  also  the  twenty-second  anni- 
versary of  my  marriage.  It  is  the  very  day  that  I  ex- 
pected the  business  to  be  settled.  This  evening  I  received 
three  letters  enclosing  $20,  $20  and  $20.22  respectively. 
This  and  no  more.  I  consider  it  a  wonderful  and  exact 
answer  to  my  inquiry  and  hence  whatever  the  cause  of 
events  may  be  as  to  the  business  I  put  under  His  care,  I 
shall  say — Deus,  lux  mea,  Salvator  mens.  Dirigit  mihi 
vias." 

And  when  we  examine  the  results  of  such  days  they 
seem  equally  amazing,  for  in  this  forgotten  crossroads 
village  philanthropy  and  education  and  religion  have 


1Y6  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

found  such  growth  as  already  to  have  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  State  and  the  Church. 

"  God  has  blessed  me  wonderfully,"  he  gloats  as  if 
over  old  gold,  "  in  turning  the  thoughts  of  so  many  of 
my  young  people  to  the  gospel  ministry.  Kichols 
Holmes,  just  licensed,  was  first  a  member  of  my 
church.  Dent  Brannen,  Sam  Fulton, — just  ordained 
for  Japan,  Clark  Jennings,  Ed  Milner,  my  own  son 
Ferdie,  all  those  within  the  year  past,  and  now  I  hear 
that  Sam  Byrd,  Darby  Fulton,  Willie  Jennings  all 
have  the  same  under  advisement.  .  .  .  O  God, 
direct  them  and  enable  me  to  advise  them  aright.  .  .  . 
How  earnestly  I  have  desired  to  make  the  orphanage  a 
great  medium  of  entrance  to  the  ministry  and  the 
college  its  co-worker.  The  Lord  is  giving  me  my 
desires.     Who  could  doubt  such  a  God  ?  " 

All  this  can  have  but  one  meaning :  that  there  is  in 
life,  in  nature,  in  history  an  Organizing  Power  whose 
purpose  is  definite  and  whose  will  is  ascertainable. 
This  Power  is  specially  benevolent  to  those  who  seek 
to  know  and  do  His  will.  All  that  He  has  made.  He 
is,  and  He  is  infinitely  more  conscious  of  us  than  we 
are  of  Him.  Included  in  His  purpose  are  all  events  of 
our  tiny  lives  and  the  thoughts  of  myriad  planets  like 
and  unlike  ours,  for  He  is  as  infinitely  little  as  He  is 
infinitely  large.  His  are  the  thoughts,  the  emotions, 
the  deeds  of  all  mankind.  He  is  the  fear  that  we  have 
of  Him  and  the  love  we  feel  for  Him.  He  is  the 
prayer  we  breathe  for  help  and  the  answer  to  that 
prayer  as  He  is  also  the  anxiety  that  it  might  not  be 
answered.  All  these  are  but  parts  of  His  Providence 
in  which  He  has  ordained  the  singular  law  that  certain 
answers  always  follow  certain  prayers.    ]S"ote  the  beauti- 


NOONDAY  177 

f ul  circle  of  it :  To  a  chosen  soul  He  gives  a  great  desire, 
the  expression  of  which  is  toil  and  prayer  and  faith 
that  the  dream  may  come  true.  That  is  why  faith  is 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen.  Its  coming  true  is  regarded  as  the 
answer,  the  part  that  God  played  in  the  affair.  It  was 
all  His. 

And  the  fine  object  of  it  is  not  to  build  churches  nor 
orphanages  nor  colleges  but  souls.  He  seems  to  be 
ever  trying  to  make  something  in  His  own  image.  All 
His  rewards  and  punishments  point  to  that  end.  Such 
are  all  answers  to  prayer,  including  those  so  quick  and 
vivid  as  to  seem  to  be  words  spoken  from  heaven.  By 
them  He  reveals  Himself,  setting  His  stamp  of  approval 
upon  certain  types  of  character  and  conduct.  He  seems 
to  delight  in  our  watching  Him  and  becoming  conscious 
of  His  presence  in  our  and  all  affairs.  This  is  what  is 
called  "  seeing  God,"  who  is  just  as  visible  as  the  wind 
and  as  audible  as  the  storm  and  as  tangible  as  the 
tornado. 

So  we  come  to  the  purpose  of  this  book  which  is  to 
view  a  soul  whom  the  Power  signally  favoured,  from 
which  favour  we  may  argue  approval  and  from  which 
approval  we  may  take  example. 


XVII 
THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER 

How  like  to  her  who  ventured  to  the  door 

Of  Persian  palace,  driven  and  afraid, 
Not  knowing  how  she  for  the  times  was  made 

To  wield  the  sceptre  that  she  trembled  o'er, 

THERE  came  a  little  child  once  to  the  Thorn- 
well  Orphanage  and  wandered  over  the 
beautiful  wooded  grounds  and  through  the 
happy  comfortable  homes.  She  heard  the  matron's 
motherly  words  and  the  sweet  laughter  of  the  children. 
She  saw  the  whirring  machinery  in  the  Tech  and  the 
pretty  exhibits  in  the  Museum,  and  watched  the  boys 
and  girls  thronging  the  schoolrooms  and  playgrounds. 
She  felt  the  wonderful  spirit  of  love  and  sympathy 
everywhere  and  learned  of  how  a  Father's  hand  pro- 
vided for  His  own  each  day  their  daily  bread.  And 
over  all  and  in  all  this  beautiful  mechanism  of  love  she 
discovered  "  Doctor,"  who  raised  the  money  and 
directed  the  life  and  interpreted  the  meaning  of  her 
wonderful  new  found  world,  and  one  day,  that  her 
conviction  might  be  verified,  she  asked  of  a  teacher  the 
question  :  "  Is  Doctor  God  ?  " 

A  wise  teacher  would  have  pondered  that  illuminat- 
ing question  a  long,  long  while  and  then  answered : 

''  Yes." 

To  do  things  is  wonderful  but  to  see  God  in  them  is 
a  surpassing  glory. 

178 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  1T9 

What  is  the  interpretation  of  it  all,  from  the  stand- 
point of  Jehovah,  if  a  man  may  write  so  boldly  ?  It 
was  not  for  the  sake  of  this  particular  orphanage  surely, 
that  such  things  were  done  as  we  have  seen  and  shall 
see  and  such  as  our  little  wanderer  saw.  Other  or- 
phanages dot  the  land — they  are  common  enough — 
filled  with  children  as  much  His  as  those  at  Thorn  well. 
He  is  no  more  interested  in  those  at  Clinton  than  others 
elsewhere.  The  key  lies  in  the  goal  of  life  which  is  to 
know  God.  It  would  seem  that  He  is  ready  to  reveal 
Himself  to  those  who  are  fit  for  that  revelation.  It  is 
a  matter  of  spiritual  condition  containing  certain  pro- 
portions of  faith,  loyalty,  love,  prayer,  purity,  persist- 
ence, power  and  an  utter  abandonment  of  selfishness. 
This  is  the  problem  in  spiritual  mathematics  difficult, 
but  soluble.  The  objects  involved  are  incidental  only. 
It  may  be  worked  out  in  orphans  or  college  students  or 
dollars  or  conversions  indiscriminately  just  as  the  same 
rule  holds  in  addition  whether  it  concerns  oranges  or 
grapefruit. 

For  example  :  when  we  read  the  following  paragraph 
in  a  man's  diary  we  know  we  are  viewing  a  certain 
type  of  soul. 

"  I  have  been  much  worried  about  our  college  lately. 
The  teachers  certainly  have  not  the  spirit  of  faith. 
They  tell  us  expressly  that  they  are  looking  for  money 
and  unless  they  can  get  the  money  they  will  not  serve 
us.  That  lot  had  better  arrange  to  leave.  O  Lord, 
send  consecrated  men  and  women  here. 

"  I  have  served  the  people  of  Clinton  for  twenty-five 
years  without  demanding  a  guaranteed  salary  and  all 
has  worked  well." 

We  are  impressed,  as  the  story  of  this  midday  period 


180  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

of  life  is  revealed,  with  the  attitude  of  this  soul  to  all 
that  he  saw.  For  example,  knowing  how  long  he  had 
looked  forward  to  seeing  the  World's  Fair  at  Chi- 
cago in  1893,  we  can  sympathize  with  this  sigh  of 
relief : 

"  I  rejoice  that  the  World's  Fair  is  to  be  closed  on  Sun- 
day. I  can  go  now.  I  would  not  have  done  so  with  a 
good  conscience  otherwise.  In  fact,  I  could  not  have 
agreed  to  go  at  all." 

Such  feeling  did  not  spring  from  narrow-mindedness 
but  from  a  loyalty  to  his  chief,  so  intense  as  to  elimi- 
nate all  joy  in  persons  or  things  who  were  slackers. 
And  note  the  last  sentence  in  this  paragraph  from  his 
diary : 

"  The  crowd  was  simply  immense.  It  was  the  big- 
gest crowd  I  ever  saw  or  ever  expect  to  see  again — 
165,681  paid  admissions,  besides  30,000  free  passes. 
Possibly  over  200,000  in  all.  It  was  human  heads  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  I  am  simply  overwhelmed 
by  the  massiveness  of  the  multitude.  What  will  it  be 
in  God's  great  day  !  " 

When  that  sad  morning  came  on  which  he  learned  of 
the  death  of  his  father  there  came  with  it  another  op- 
portunity to  look  down  into  the  deeps,  as  the  great 
waves  swept  the  ocean's  bottom  on  their  parting,  and 
see  the  foundations  of  his  life.  See  how  naturally 
though  sorrowfully  his  thoughts  wend  their  way 
towards  the  throne : 

"  On  yesterday  morning  at  Sunday  School,  with  250 
pupils  and  teachers  around  me,  I  was  stunned  by  a  tele- 
gram handed  me,  by  whom  I  know  not,  telling  me 
that  on  Sabbath  morning  at  12 :  30  ray  dear  old  father 
was  suddenly  summoned  to  his  glorious  reward. 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  181 

"  I  am  so,  so  sorry  to  part  with  him.  No  man  on 
earth  is  as  dear  to  me  as  he  is,  and  yet  I  could  not  call 
him  back.  His  work  on  earth  is  ended  and  now  he  has 
gone  to  his  exceeding  great  reward.  Dear  old  Father, 
how  tenderly  I  loved  you !  It  is  very  hard  to  think 
that  I  will  see  yoa  and  speak  with  you  no  more  on 
earth.  My  heart  yearns  to  you.  Alas !  Alas !  Little 
thought  I  when  we  parted  in  Atlanta  after  that  evening 
meal,  that  we  were  to  meet  no  more  this  side  of  the 
eternal  throne.  But  I  shall  meet  you  there,  my  father. 
The  wheels  of  time's  chariot  fly  swiftly.  I  am  already 
on  the  down  grade  and  the  way  will  seem  very  short 
when  it  is  all  over.  Lord,  help  me  to  live  that  I  may 
know  how  to  die." 

Three  years  before  he  had  visited  Yorkville,  his 
birthpla.ce,  where  his  father  had  lived  and  toiled, 
founding  the  Presbyterian  Church  there,  from  which 
he  went  to  accept  the  professorship  of  Mathematics  and 
Astronomy  in  Oglethorpe  University.  Of  this  visit  he 
says  : 

*'  I  spent  one  evening  in  hunting  up  the  sites  in 
Yorkville  connected  with  my  infant  days.  I  found  the 
house  where  I  was  born,  the  one  in  which  Father  taught 
school,  the  one  in  which  he  boarded  when  first  he  went 
to  Yorkville,  the  Bratton  house  in  which  my  mother 
died,  the  court-house  where  Father  preached  when  first 
he  began  his  work,  the  little  old  church  which  was 
built  first,  where  I  was  baptized  by  God-fearing 
Bishop,  and  the  house  (Mr.  SimriFs)  where  I  spent  a 
year  after  Mother's  death.  It  is  surprising  that  so 
many  of  these  houses  remain.  They  interested  me 
deeply." 

"  I  was  told  by  Brother  English  that  mine  is  the  first 


182  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

name  occurring  on  the  baptismal  record  of  the  York- 
ville  church  and  that  those  early  records  are  in  Father's 
handwriting." 

"  I  have  a  good  father,"  he  had  once  written  in  his 
journal  when,  in  boyhood  days,  he  had  received  some 
simple  favour  from  his  hand.  It  was  always  a  pleasure 
to  the  son  to  know  that  the  last  summers  of  the  father's 
life  had  customarily  been  spent  with  him  in  Clinton, 
his  "  Summer  Home."  Thither  he  w^ould  come  from 
Nashville  in  the  late  spring,  bringing  the  gentle  bene- 
diction of  a  kindly  holiness  to  the  many  who  waited 
annually  for  his  coming  with  "  Grandma."  When  the 
bonds  of  fourscore  tied  him  to  the  armchair  he  loved, 
he  would  sit  for  hours  reading  his  Greek  Testament  or 
some  volume  on  metaphysics  or  astronomy  and  at  in- 
tervals tell  stories  to  his  grandchildren.  It  was  from 
his  gracious  lips  that  one  of  them  heard  first  of  Ogle- 
thorpe University  and  her  former  glory,  of  her  wonder- 
ful quarter-century  of  service  until  her  death  at  Gettys- 
burg, of  her  great  white  Doric  pillars  and  beautiful 
chapel  and  orrery  by  which  any  student  might  see  for 
himself  how  God  twirled  His  planets  about  the  sun. 
And  though  they  were  spoken  in  the  last  hour  before 
sunset  those  words  yet  abide  in  light. 

It  is  interesting  also  to  note  the  attitude  of  our 
country  pastor  to  his  Synod  when  in  his  opinion  the 
Synod  was  wrong.  Never  a  word  of  criticism  or  re- 
buke, only  that  quiet  determination :  "  They  shall  not 
pass!"  All  Synods,  Presbyteries,  Assemblies,  and 
other  church  courts  were  to  him  sacred  means  to  an 
end,  but  ever  only  means.  And  so  when  the  Synod  de- 
clined his  college,  knowing  that  the  thing  he  had  made 
was  the  gracious  handiwork  of  God,  he  wrote  : 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  183 

"  Brother  Murray  brought  up  the  college  and  tried 
to  get  it  '  adopted '  but  failed.  I  think  it  best  to  leave 
that  matter  alone.  We  had  better  trust  in  the  Lord 
than  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina." 

And  of  a  similar  sort  was  the  man  who  could  face  a 
fierce  ecclesiastical  contest  thus : 

"  Organic  union  has  been  the  one  all-absorbing  topic 
at  this  Assembly.  It  is  going  to  convulse  our  whole 
church  and  I  fear  rend  it  with  violence  and  passion. 

S — -,  P and  others  are  bitter  in  their  opposition 

to  it  and  proclaim  their  purpose  to  tear  the  church  in 
pieces  rather  than  to  submit  to  it.  This  is  not  the 
spirit  of  God. 

''  My  own  views  are  that  if  the  Northern  Church  will 
yield  to  a  plan  for  a  separate  African  Assembly  and 
will  clearly  assert  the  unpolitical  character  of  the 
church,  I  can  conscientiously  unite  with  them,  but  in 
the  meanwhile,  so  great  are  the  obstacles  in  the  way, 
when  the  question  comes  up  in  the  Presbytery  I  will 
vote  against  it,  believing  that  more  effective  work  can 
be  done  by  two  Presbyterian  denominations  than  by 
one.     Lord,  save  Thy  church  from  disaster." 

And  when  a  country  pastor  spends  a  month  among 
the  great,  wealthy  churches  of  New  York  City  and 
comes  back  with  so  fine  a  difference  in  his  heart  as  he 
hereinafter  expresses,  we  recall  that  Moses,  Elijah  and 
Paul  were  taught  of  God  in  the  Wilderness  : 

"  One  thought  has  forced  itself  on  me,  that  the 
pastors  (in  New  York)  have  circumscribed  spheres  of 
labour,  do  not  go  outside  of  it,  and  when  the  three  or 
four  hundred  who  are  in  their  care  leave  the  city,  their 
homes  are  empty  and  they  go  too ;  while  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  practical  heathen  surge  past  their  church 


184  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

doors.  Surely  there  is  some  better  way  than  this  and 
by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  determined  to  count  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  Clinton  as  under  my  care  un- 
less I  know  him  to  be  a  Methodist  or  Baptist.  The 
strangers  who  go  to  church  I  will  care  for.  So  help 
me,  oh,  my  Father." 

And  with  what  words  should  we  describe  the  broad- 
minded  charity  of  the  man  who  could  say  "  God  speed 
them"  when  a  group  of  leaders  separated  a  whole 
wealthy  and  liberal  state  from  among  his  supporting 
synods  as  he  did  time  and  time  again  when  other  or- 
phanages sprang  up  like  sturdy  little  oaks  around  the 
parent  tree  ?  He  took  delight  in  them  as  if  it  were 
good  that  God  should  work  as  mightily  through  others 
as  through  himself.  He  was  not  even  jealous  when 
the  Baptists,  many  of  whom  had  been  supporting 
Thornwell,  established  their  own  institution.  Of  this 
he  writes : 

"  The  Baptist  Orphanage  is  to  be  located  at  Green- 
wood. It  will  be  near  and  I  will  often  have  the  privi- 
lege of  visiting  them.  There  is  a  need  for  it  and  I 
think  it  will  rather  tend  to  increase  the  zeal  of  Presby- 
terians for  our  work  here." 

But  we  are  certainly  getting  a  "  close  up  "  on  the 
very  heart  of  a  man  when  we  find  that  he  considers 
his  children  as  well  as  himself  the  property  of  God. 
They  were  given  to  him  but  he  immediately  gave  them 
back.  When  his  God  called  his  two  oldest  sons  to  the 
ministry  delight  was  in  his  exclamation,  "  I  have  two 
more  boys,  O  God,  take  them  also ! "  He  seemed  to  be 
so  pleased  with  his  life  of  poverty  and  sacrifice  that  he 
would  have  his  children  enjoy  them  as  if  he  had  found 
some  sweet  compensation  that  he  would  have  them 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  185 

also  taste.  When  his  son,  States,  was  taken  with 
typhoid  fever  he  wrote : 

"I  am  sitting  in  the  Phoenix  Hotel,  Bishopville, 
Sumter  County,  looking  out  on  level  fields  and  a  few 
frame  buildings  in  the  foreground.  It  is  God's  holy 
Sabbath.  This  morning  I  preached  to  the  Bishopville 
Presbyterians  in  the  town  hall.  But  it  was  not  for 
that  I  came  here.  States  is  ill  with  typhoid  fever  and 
I  am  summoned  to  be  near  him.  His  case  is  not,  by 
any  means,  a  very  bad  one,  but  it  is  slow  and  the 
disease  is  insidious,  but  I  long  ago  put  my  children  in 
God's  hands.  They  belong  to  Him.  I  trust  them  to 
Him,  even  while  I  pray  most  earnestly  for  their  recov- 
ery. I  learned  when  little  Ida  died  that  there  were 
worse  things  than  death.  ISTevertheless,  Almighty 
Father,  give  my  boy  a  long  and  useful  life." 

So  this  interesting  thing  happened  that  he  was  ever 
ready,  by  necessary  sacrifice,  to  give  his  children  any- 
thing that  made  for  their  spiritual,  religious  or  educa- 
tional welfare  but  he  was  no  more  interested  in  worldly 
glory  or  prosperity  for  them  than  for  himself.  His 
was  a  spirit  of  service  to  God  and  the  less  said  about 
it  the  better.  Consequently  great  honours  came  which 
he  always  looked  on  with  suspicion  lest  he  might  seem 
to  have  ^sought  them  for  himself  or  for  his  children. 
Hear  him  as  he  glories : 

"  I  glory  in  the  sorrows,  trials  and  burdens  of  these 
eighteen  months  as  well  as  in  their  rewards.  Thou 
didst  cause  me  to  see  great  and  sore  travail  but  Thou 
hast  also  greatly  comforted  me.  I  have  seen  Thy  work 
here  prosper  and  I  have  come  through  much  darkness 
into  much  light." 

"  O  Lord,  help  me,  I  pray,  and  bless  me  and  give 


186  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

me  peace  as  Thou  seest  I  have  need.  Help  me  more 
and  more  to  do  Thy  will.  Help  me  to  be  a  better  man, 
to  have  more  courage  for  my  work,  to  labour  with  all 
my  might.  Thou  art  gracious  in  many  things,  Thou 
wilt  be  more  gracious  yet." 

"  Give  me  strength,  Lord,  it  is  my  prayer.  Give  me 
a  happy  heart  full  of  great  joys  in  believing.  In  this 
will  I  have  glory  continually.     Amen." 

From  all  of  which  it  will  be  seen  that  his  idea  of 
happiness  was  a  combination  of  toil,  sorrow,  comfort, 
battle,  victory,  pain  and  reward  but  most  of  all  service 
of  God.  He  thought  it  pleasanter  to  be  with  God  in 
trouble  than  without  Him  in  joy.  He  had  long  since 
given  himself  away,  now  he  could  give  those  he  loved  : 

"  I  was  very  busy  all  of  last  week  attending  Presby- 
tery at  Laurens.  It  was  particularly  interesting  to  me, 
as  during  its  progress  Ferdie  was  ordained  to  the  gospel 
ministry.  The  same  week  States  was  examined  and 
will  shortly  be  ordained  pastor  at  Edgefield  Court 
House  by  the  South  Carolina  Presbytery.  Both  my 
boys  will  take  their  first  seat  in  Synod  in  their  old 
home,  Clinton.  God  be  with  them.  I  have  two  other 
sons  that  I  have  given  Thee,  O  Lord."     .     .     . 

''  Corn  well  Jennings,  one  of  my  orphan  boys,  was 
also  received.  So  two  of  my  orphan  boys  are  now  in 
process  of  manufacture  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel." 

And  then  later : 

"  It  is  very  good  indeed  of  my  dear  Lord  to  accept 
Thorn  well  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.  My  heart 
is  full.  I  have  been  grateful  beyond  expression  that 
my  children  have  grown  up  in  that  faith.  To  train 
them  without  a  mother's  tender  care  is  no  easy  task, 
especially  when  other  such  great  causes  have  rested  on 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  187 

me.     God  be  praised  for  His  goodness  to  me  in  this 
thing.     It  is  in  answer  to  prayer." 

It  was  inevitable  that,  having  given  himself  and  all  he 
had  away,  there  should  come  times  when  he  needed  much 
help.  Yet  in  all  the  thirty-two  volumes  of  his  closely 
written  diary,  covering  the  whole  long  period  from  1858- 
1917  inclusive,  there  is  no  record  of  his  ever  offering  a 
prayer  for  his  own  advancement  in  glory  or  wealth. 
But  for  others  he  was  such  a  beggar  as  God  loves. 
And  his  theory  of  prayer  was  not  one  of  beautiful  coin- 
cidences but  of  personal  answer  to  definite  appeal. 

"  I  have  another  wonderful  story  to  relate,"  he  writes 
in  1892.  "Last  evening  I  was  greatly  troubled  over 
our  receipts  for  the  support  fund.  We  were  $130 
behind  our  receipts  for  March  of  last  year  and  but  a 
few  dollars  received  since  ten  days  ago.  Last  night  I 
carried  my  trouble  to  God  and  I  prayed  in  this  way,— 
'  Lord,  men  say  that  there  is  no  use  to  ask  special 
things  of  Thee  and  to  set  a  special  time ;  they  would 
discourage  even  Thine  elect  from  prayer.  Lord,  give 
me  a  hundred  dollars  to-morrow  and  make  our  receipts 
for  this  March  equal  those  of  last  March.  I  do  not 
ask  this.  Lord,  to  test  the  power  of  prayer.  Grant  it, 
and  my  poor  faith  will  be  made  stronger.  Refuse  it, 
and  it  will  be  all  right,  my  Master.  But,  O  Lord,  for 
Thy  poor  children's  sake,  refuse  it  not.' " 

"  The  first  letter  received  this  morning  contained  a 
one  hundred  dollar  hill. 

"Another  wonderful  coincidence?  Not  so,  my 
Master,  there  is  no  chance  in  this  life.  It  is  all  law 
and  order." 

This  was  an  example  worked  out  in  dollars.  We 
turn  to  another  worked  out  in  souls. 


188  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

"  I  earnestly  prayed  God  a  few  months  ago  that  the 
result  of  my  year's  work,  as  it  is  the  fiftieth  of  my  life, 
would  be  the  addition  of  fifty  members.  Blessed  be 
His  holy  name.  The  prayer  has  been  answered  and 
more  than,  fifty  have  been  granted  me.  This  is  another 
special  and  peculiar  answer  to  prayer.  This  is  the 
first  year  in  my  ministry  that  I  have  received  so  many. 
But  God  has  answered  so  many  of  my  prayers  that  I 
know  not  how  to  remember  with  special  and  solitary 
instances." 

This  story  was  written  in  December,  1891.  The  next 
chapter  was  penned  in  January,  1893. 

"  On  Friday  night,  the  last  night  of  Dr.  Guerrant's 
services,  and  before  any  one  had  expressed  a  purpose 
to  become  a  Christian,  I  suddenly  remembered  my 
prayer  of  last  year  to  God  to  give  me  fifty  souls  in 
commemoration  of  my  fiftieth  anniversary.  Then  it 
occurred  to  me  to  say,  ^  Why  not  again  now  ?  Is  it  too 
much  to  ask  ?  Is  the  Lord's  arm  shortened  that  it 
cannot  save  ? '  I  remembered  that  twenty-four  had  thus 
far  been  joined  with  us  this  year,  and  so  I  said  to  God 
— ^  Lord,  give  me  the  other  twenty -six  to  be  added  to 
these.'  Was  it  an  accident  that  at  the  meeting  of  the 
session  yesterday  morning  just  twenty-six  were  re- 
ceived on  profession  of  faith?  Oh,  Abraham,  thou 
mightest  have  saved  all  Sodom,  hadst  thou  but  dared 
one  more  perad venture." 

It  is  well  to  get  his  own  mental  attitude  towards 
these  and  similar  incidents. 

"  How  wonderful  are  God's  dealings  with  my 
church,"  he  exclaims,  "  in  the  past  year.  We  received 
our  sixtieth  member  yesterday  and  I  think  there  will 
be  more  next  year.     For  two  successive  years  this  little 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  189 

church  is  to  be  at  the  head  of  the  roll  for  niembers 
received  in  our  Synod !  My  pastorate  is  bringing  forth 
'  fruit  in  old  age.'  Then  how  glad  to  be  able  to  say 
that  no  other  church  in  our  whole  Southern  Assembly 
has  so  many  candidates  for  the  ministry  as  mine! 
Blessed  be  my  Master.  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  this 
is  the  little  mission  church  of  thirty  years  ago.  Work 
and  the  blessing  of  God  and  perseverance  towards  a 
prescribed  end  have  done  it,  but  mainly  the  blessing  of 
God.  I  want  every  day  to  thank  Him.  He  has  made 
my  life  a  marvellous  success,  along  the  line  I  chose ! 
And  I  feel  that  He  will  be  with  me  in  all  things  till 
Jesus  comes." 

We  have  here  then  a  man  who  believed  in  prayer 
very  much  as  he  believed  in  language  and  never  dis- 
counted it  as  the  means  of  communication  between 
spirit  and  Spirit.  Had  some  one  referred  to  his  answers 
as  beautiful  coincidences  he  would  doubtless  have 
smiled  and  suggested  that  it  was  just  as  difficult  to 
arrange  beautiful  coincidences  as  it  is  to  answer  prayers. 
Really,  what  is  the  difference  ? 

Being  convinced  of  this  stupendous  thing  who  that 
knew  him  would  not  have  known  that  sooner  or  later 
he  would  turn  his  beautiful  instrument,  like  a  revealing 
telescope,  upon  the  stars.  From  the  boyhood  days  to 
the  very  end  he  had  but  one  great  passion,  the  longing 
for  the  Eternal  Life.  But  so  much  sweeter  and  deeper 
are  his  own  words  that  none  others  should  obscure  their 
beauty : 

"  I  can  truly  say  that  there  is  no  earthly  prospect 
that  I  ever  set  for  a  moment  over  against  the  promised 
glory.  My  desire  for  health  and  life  is  that  I  may  do 
God's  will  and  advance  His  cause.     Sometimes  I  feel 


190  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

as  if  the  promise  of  eternal  life  were  too  good  to  be 
true,  too  wonderful,  too  soul  thrilling ;  and  I  am  cast 
down  with  fears  that  I  may  not  inherit  it,  but  I  feel 
sure  of  one  thing,  that  my  fears  are  born  of  an  intense 
yearning  that  the  promises  of  the  blessed  book  may  be 
realized  in  my  case.  Lord,  give  me  surcease  of  these 
useless  fears,  and  best  of  all  give  me  daily  proof,  as 
Thou  hast  in  the  past,  that  Thou  carest  for  me." 

And  next  we  find  an  astonishing  thing.  It  was  as  if 
a  man  with  a  newly  discovered  telescope  were  to  turn 
it  for  the  first  time  on  the  abyss  of  space  asking  of 
Neptune,  '*  Art  thou  there  ?  " 

Did  he  long  to  know  whether  he  should  live  again, 
and  would  God  answer  prayer  ?  Then  why  not  ask 
Him? 

"  Three  months  ago  I  asked  the  Lord  to  assure  me 
of  eternal  life  by  doing  four  wonderful  things  for  me. 
First,  to  restore  my  health,  and  this  He  has  so  far  done 
that  I  seem  to  myself  to  be  whole  and  well ;  second, 
to  free  the  college  of  debt,  and  this  also  He  has  done 
by  removing  every  cent  of  indebtedness  and  leaving  a 
balance  in  the  treasury  ;  third,  by  doing  some  wonder- 
ful thing  for  the  orphanage;  His  reply  was  to  give 
me  $1,000  endowment,  $350  for  the  clock  and  $3,000 
for  the  Harriet  Home,  to  give  Our  Monthly  its  largest 
receipts  and  the  whole  orphanage  work  $14,000  ;  fourth, 
to  bless  my  church  in  some  special  way  and  since  then 
He  has  had  five  of  my  young  men  (one,  my  own  son) 
enter  the  ministry  (and  He  hasn't  done  yet !).  It  seems 
to  me  that  I  have  the  clearest  right  to  believe.  First, 
that  God  hears  my  prayers;  second,  that  He  has  in 
store  for  me  eternal  life,  and  greater  privileges  and 
blessings  than  these  can  no  man  ask.     As  to  the  mercies 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  191 

of  this  year,  they  are  beyond  measure.  My  heart 
magnifies  her  Lord  and  makes  her  boast  in  Him  ! '' 

"  I  have  been  studying  for  two  years  the  ministry  of 
prayer,"  he  writes  later.  "  Two  years  ago  it  was  my 
own  life  that  seemed  endangered  and  then  how  eagerly 
I  studied  things  about  the  hereafter.  It  was  a  problem 
over  which  I  fought — this  problem  of  eternal  life — and 
the  real  presence  of  God  with  believers.  I  can  truly  say 
that  I  gained  much  light  but  there  was  much  yet  to 
learn.  For  three  weeks,  alas,  I  have  been  in  constant 
prayer  for  the  life  of  the  two  girls,  Lula  and  Maggie. 
All  was  going  against  them  and  me,  and  I  had  an  idea 
half  formed  that  I  was  not  to  be  heard.  I  pled  by 
every  thought  I  could  conceive  that  God  would  help 
me.  And  God  did  hear  me.  On  the  26th  the  tide  be- 
gan to  turn.  But  that  day,  suddenly,  our  little  Ida 
was  cut  down.  The  work  was  quickly  done.  I  hardly 
had  time  to  cry  'Lord,  spare  my  child!'  But  the 
Lord  had  meant  that  child's  death  to  be  the  great 
lesson  that  I  needed.  She  did  not  die,  she  was  trans- 
lated !  For  while  I  sat  by  her,  her  little  pale  face  lit 
up  with  the  radiance  of  heaven.  *  The  angels  have 
come  into  this  room,'  she  said.  I  turned  involuntarily 
to  see  them.  *  They  are  passing  over  to  the  side  of  my 
bed,  there  by  you.  Oh,  they  are  so  beautiful,  so  beau- 
tiful, and  they  have  come  for  me ! '  How  can  I  de- 
scribe the  sweet  peace  that  rested  on  the  child's  face  ? 
It  was  seraphic.  Moreover  it  impressed  me  so  utterly 
with  the  assurance  of  the  reality  of  her  vision  that  I 
was  astonished  at  the  dullness  of  my  vision.  The 
Master  sent  His  shining  ones  to  carry  the  little  orphan 
home, — His  own  little  child. 

"  So  the  Lord  has  given  me  at  last  what  I  have  long 


192  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

been  seeking  for.  I  have  not  found  it  in  my  heart  to 
weep  for  little  Ida  though  my  tears  have  run  in  streams 
as  I  have  recalled  that  scene.  Nothing  in  all  my  life 
has  so  touched  me.  Henceforth,  death  will  have  been 
shorn  of  much  of  its  terror.  The  Angels  of  God  have 
stood  by  me,  and  lifted  almost  out  of  my  arms  their 
little  treasure." 

And  so  we  find  him  at  the  noontide  hour  a  man  who 
loved  other  people — and  especially  God,  and  wanted  to 
spend  his  life  serving  them,  because  his  eyes  were  fixed 
on  that  far  distant  Why  ?  from  which  all  philosophers 
and  philanthropists  have  drawn  their  inspiration.  The 
ultimate  Goal  of  Things  drew  him  from  home  to  home 
in  his  pastoral  calls  and  as  he  went  his  dreams  dwelt  in 
his  words  and  his  words  won  their  sweet  way  into  a 
heart  or  two  here  and  there. 

It  is  not  that  church  or  that  college  or  that  orphan- 
age or  that  town  that  He  is  interested  in.  It  is  that 
spirit. 

On  the  one  side:  safety,  comfort,  wealth,  ease, 
glory;  on  the  other:  danger,  trouble,  poverty,  toil, 
glory  ;  thus  does  the  shepherd-rod  of  God  continually 
divide  the  sheep  from  the  goats. 

And  in  the  heat  of  his  midday  burden,  at  the  even 
age  of  fifty  years,  he  sits  down  to  write — of  himself, 
his  life,  his  experiences,  his  God.  And  this  is  what  he 
says: 

"  I  am  this  day  fifty  years  of  age.  I  cease  to-day  to 
climb  the  hill  of  life  and  start  down  the  declivity.  I 
have  passed  the  *  dead  line.'  It  is  meet  for  me  to  pause 
here  and  make  a  few  reflections  and  resolutions. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  look  backward  to-day.  Often 
have  I  done  that  in  the  past,  measuring  step  by  step 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SOLDIER  193 

the  work  and  way  the  Master  sent  me.  I  look  forward 
and  press  on. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  long  I  am  to  live.  If  it  be  to 
fourscore  or  even  fourscore  and  ten,  every  day  of  it 
shall  be  spent  in  Thy  service,  O  God.  I  am  deter- 
mined to  know  no  rest  till  the  end  come. 

"  Every  year  I  will  begin  new  studies  and  undertake 
new  works.  I  may  die  this  day,  but  if  I  do  not  die 
till  I  am  ninety,  this  I  set  to  my  seal,  that  I  shall  busy 
myself  about  my  Master's  work  while  I  have  my  being. 
I  may  be  in  time  laid  aside  from  this  or  that  sort  of 
duty,— God  only  knows,— yet  will  I  find  some  sort,  so 
help  me  God  and  keep  me  steadfast. 

"  I  find  myself  in  fairly  good  condition  physically 
to-day.  The  next  ten  years  I  will  choose  to  make  a 
better  ten  than  those  just  behind  me.  Gray  hairs  are 
coming  fast.  Let  them  come.  I  will  not  care.  But  I 
must  let  in  no  droning,  no  whining. 

''  Yet  I  look  forward  to  a  goal.  To  live  eternally 
with  Christ  is  the  unutterable  longing  of  my  soul ! 
There  is  no  desire  that  I  have  that  is  for  a  moment 
comparable  with  that.  It  is  everything  with  me  and 
as  the  years  fly  past  the  longing  grows  stronger  and 
stronger.  O  God,  all  powerful !  in  Thine  own  good 
time  grant  me  eternal  life  in  Thy  presence  where  there 
are  pleasures  forevermore. 

"To-day,  on  the  15th  of  March,  we  opened  the 
Nellie  Scott  Library  and  also  threw  out  the  foundation 
dirt  for  the  Technical  School. 

"  I  received  some  pleasant  souvenirs  of  my  fiftieth 
birthday. 

"  Why  should  a  man  be  counted  old  at  fifty  ?  For 
my  part  I  feel  that  I  can  do  better  work  than  ever.     I 


194  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

notice  that  my  imagination  is  not  so  brilliant,  and  that  I 
am  not  as  fond  of  using  illustrations  as  I  once  was,  but 
I  prefer  to  hammer  away  at  a  given  point  till  I  get  it 
sharpened  for  use. 

"  Neither  am  I  afraid  ^  of  that  which  is  high.'  My 
plans  increase  and  enlarge  in  number.  There  are 
broader  views  to  be  taken  of  things  and  I  love  to  take 
them.  I  find  myself  desirous  of  impressing  my  views 
upon  large  masses  of  men.  Once  I  was  content  with 
bringing  my  little  church  to  think  with  me. 

"  Still,  I  love  this  little  town.  I  am  delighted  to  see 
it  grow  and  to  know  that  I  have  given  it  two  such  in- 
stitutions as  the  college  and  the  orphanage.  God  has 
enabled  me  to  prove  that  a  faithful  worker  in  a  village 
church  may  make  his  little  field  a  tower  of  strength  to 
all  the  state.  Moreover,  the  faithful  win  honour.  I 
have  no  talent.     I  have  only  faithfulness  and  common 


XVIII 
BUILDIKG  THE  NEW  CHUECH 

Aye,  like  to  him  who  trusting,  cast  his  net 
As  One  commanded  forth  into  the  deep, 

"Wherein  the  master  loves  and  yearnings  sleep, 
Wherewith  the  lines  that  lift  the  world  are  wet ! 

IN  the  mind  of  the  minister  there  are  few  joys  to 
equal  the  building  of  a  House  for  God. 
When,  far  back  in  the  sixties,  the  city  youth 
came  to  take  up  his  work  in  the  country  village  and 
saw  the  bare  walls  of  his  unattractive  building  there 
doubtless  mingled  with  his  sense  of  poverty  a  prayer 
and  determination  to  erect,  some  day,  a  fitting  temple 
for  Jehovah.  Just  as  we  find  him  proposing  to  build  a 
cotton  mill  ten  years  before  the  business  men  of  the 
village  took  his  advice,  so  from  the  beginning  he 
yearned  for  an  efficient  and  suitable  church  building. 

Yet  there  was  that  about  the  old  church  raising  its 
tall  white  spire  so  high  as  to  overlook  the  beautiful  oak 
grove  in  front,  that  would  not  let  it  go  without  a  pang 
of  grave  regret.  There,  on  July  13,  1862,  the  slight, 
boyish  seminary  student  had,  as  if  by  chance,  preached 
his  first  Clinton  sermon.  Thither  he  had  come  two 
years  later  to  be  their  first  pastor  and  the  only  resident 
minister  of  the  only  church  in  the  village.  Through 
the  long  black  night  of  reconstruction  days  they  had 
comforted  one  another  in  her  pews  and  over  old- 
fashioned  communion  tables  until  the  dawn  came  even 
as  the  great  book  on  the  pulpit  stand  had  promised. 

195 


196  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Thither  also  he  had  first  led  his  little  family  of  orphans, 
then  called  "  Jacobs'  Folly,"  by  day  and  by  night,  and 
thither  his  first  "  college  boys  "  had  gathered  when  his 
"  college "  was  the  joke  of  the  state,  and  there  they 
had  found  faith  of  such  a  sort  that  they  were  not  dis- 
mayed. In  that  old  wooden  building  great  sermons 
had  been  preached  and  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of 
souls  converted,  as  the  Power  showed  him  how  to  take 
ordinary  folks  and  make  ministers  and  missionaries  and 
professors  and  college  presidents  out  of  them,  though 
it  had  to  be  done  in  what  was  called  when  he  came  to 
it:  " The  Hell-hole  of  South  Carolina."  So  this  little 
forgotten  and  forsaken  country  church  had  come  to 
know  and  be  known  by  all  who  loved  high  purpose 
and  fine  resolve  and  its  very  poverty  of  adornment 
emphasized  its  message.  As  the  years  passed  over  his 
head  the  temples  of  the  young  minister  whitened  and 
his  eyes  grew  dim  yet  his  youthful  dream  did  not  de- 
part. He  still  craved  that  for  which  he  had  so  long 
prayed  and  kept  talking  about  it. 

So  one  day  in  1895  a  woman  died  and  left  seven 
hundred  dollars  to  "  the  new  church." 

The  Ladies'  Aid  Society  took  it  in  charge  and  began 
adding  to  it.  The  old  story  was  to  be  told  again — 
faith—prayer— work.  By  1899  he  was  writing  in  his 
diary,  "  but  the  special  year's  work  shall  be  for  the  new 
church  building." 

So  he  began  work  and  immediately  found  that  to  be 
true  which  the  chorus  in  Antigone  sang  many  centuries 
before : 

'•'■  One  law  holds  ever  good, 
That  nothing  comes  to  life  of  man  on  earth. 
Unscathed  throughout  by  woe." 


BUILDING  THE  NEW  CHURCH  197 

For  there  were  those  who  wanted  to  move  the 
church  to  another  and,  as  they  said,  more  central 
location,  and  to  this  the  other  part  would  not  hear. 
"  The  new  church  will  not  be  built  in  my  time !  "  he 
exclaimed  in  dismay.  In  the  Hotel  Ingleterra,  Habana, 
on  March  15,  1900,  his  fifty -eighth  birthday,  he  writes 
in  his  journal  his  surrender  of  the  hope  which  he  had 
cherished  for  a  long,  long  while  and  considered  this 
end  of  his  life-dream  a  signal  from  above  that  the  time 
had  come  to  resign  his  church. 

And  all  the  while  at  his  little  home  town  the  Power 
was  working  out  His  perfect  plan.  The  ladies  kept 
adding  dollar  to  dollar.  The  men  could  not  forget  that 
picture  he  had  drawn  for  them  in  stone.  Soon  the 
differences  were  amicably  composed  and  on  March 
6,  1901,  the  first  stone  was  laid  in  the  foundation  of 
the  new  church. 

"  I  am  a  boy  yet ! "  he  exclaimed  on  the  day  he  was 
fifty-nine.     "  I  will  make  this  my  best  year !  " 

And  he  just  about  did  it.  His  little  country  church 
that  was,  now  began  to  feel  its  power.  They  actually 
gave  $2,000  for  all  regular  causes  during  that  year  and 
$3,000  to  the  new  church,  the  best  year  in  its  history  ! 

And  the  following  July,  as  if  to  remind  him  of  the 
favour  God  had  shown  him,  Miss  Ibby  Fulton,  the  last 
of  the  original  members  of  his  church,  died  at  the  age 
of  ninety-four  years.  For  himself  he  had  just  taken 
his  first  ride  in  an  automobile  and  was  saying,  "  It  is 
very  hard  to  make  this  young  heart  and  old  body  of 
mine  keep  step  with  each  other." 

Three  more  long  years  were  consumed  in  building 
that  church  and  as  regularly  as  the  days  passed  the 
form  of  an  old  man  now  often  tired  and  noticeably 


198  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

gray  was  seen  each  afternoon  passing  in  and  out 
among  the  workmen,  worrying  over  every  detail  and 
correcting  anything  that  he  found  wrong.  Dollar  by 
dollar  they  raised  the  money  to  rear  its  granite  walls 
and  provide  its  oaken  seats  and  at  last  it  was  ready  for 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  in  the  fall 
of  1904. 

It  had  taken  nine  years  of  active  propaganda  to  do 
it  and  five  years  of  hard  toil  and  a  whole  lifetime  of 
dreaming — which  made  it  all  the  more  meaningful 
and  precious. 

Then  three  more  years  passed  and  at  last  he  wrote 
in  his  diary : 

"  By  God's  good  grace  we  dedicated  our  church  to- 
day. The  total  cost,  including  everything,  was  $21,- 
000.  There  remains  $34  in  the  treasury  !  The  day 
was  ideal ;  the  congregation  crowded  the  church  and 
schoolroom.  Cornelson's  sermon  was  good.  And 
God  has  given  me  to-day  the  last  one  of  my  '  condi- 
tions '  on  which  I  based  my  purpose  to  remain  as  a 
pastor. 

"  1st.     The  church  debt  was  paid. 

"  2d.      The  money  for  a  mill  pastor  secured. 

"  3d.      A  church  membership  raised  to  four  hundred. 

"  4th.    My  salary  better  paid. 

"5th.  Four  hundred  actually  present  at  Sunday 
School. 

"  There  were  four  hundred  and  sixteen  (!)  at  Sunday 
School  to-day." 

All  his  life  long  he  pra37^ed  and  worked  and  then 
watched  to  see  what  would  happen.  ISTow  beautiful 
things  always  happen  under  such  circumstances.  But 
does  their  beauty  lie  in  the  coincidence  of  request  and 


BUILDING  THE  NEW  CHURCH  199 

reply  or  in  the  object  and  the  eye  ?  Is  the  wonderful 
element  in  it  the  actual  fact  of  answer  or  the  ability  to 
see  that  fact  ?  What  does  it  matter  how  many  prayers 
God  answers  if  nobody  sees  Him  do  it  ?  A  great 
author  once  said  of  his  manuscript,  '*  It  may  well  wait 
a  century  for  a  reader  as  God  has  waited  six  thousand 
years  for  an  observer  ! "  This  power  to  see  God  ;  to 
know  Him  ;  to  glorify  Him  ;  to  enjoy  Him,  is  this  not 
indeed  the  chief  end  of  man  ? 

Viewing  this  remarkable  life  that  we  have  been 
studying,  what  finer  truth  may  we  say  of  it  than  that 
it  was  his  delight  to  look  for  God. 

And  with  the  practised  eye  of  the  scout-master  he 
discovered  His  familiar  footprint  in  the  forest  of  human 
affairs. 

This  was  his  glory  that  having  a  pure  heart  he  saw 
God. 


XIX 
IN  THE  LATEE  YEAES 

Ah,  little  brook,  thy  waves  and  mine 

Break  ever  towards  the  open  sea, 
Nor  stone  may  bar,  nor  meadowed  kine 

A  hindrance  be. 
We  beachward  bear  our  portioned  sand, 

The  boom  of  breakers  in  our  ear, 
O  Harbour  of  the  Fatherland, 

He  waits  us,  There. 

THAT  is  indeed  a  singular  law  under  which 
each  generation  raises  monuments  to  the 
prophets  of  the  past  and  crosses  for  those  of 
the  present,  yet  it  has  been  followed  by  each  age  from 
the  beginning.  And  the  same  spirit  of  hypocrisy  is 
responsible  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  The  leader 
inevitably  calls  down  the  curses  of  the  blind  upon  his 
head.  ]S'ot  being  able  to  see  so  far  as  he,  they  account 
his  dreams  as  follies  and  his  faiths  as  fictions.  After- 
wards when  these  have  been  wrought  out  in  stone  and 
mortar,  in  facts  and  successes,  another  generation 
gathers  up  the  stones  thrown  at  him  and  builds  a  monu- 
ment over  his  grave.  When  the  new  leader  comes  who 
sees  still  ^further  he  receives  the  same  treatment,  first 
persecution  then  apotheosis.  It  is  a  habit  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

With  William  Plumer  Jacobs  the  days  of  persecu- 
tion had  passed  and  those  of  honour  and  emolument 
had  come.     He  feared  these  far  more  than  the  former 

200 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  201 

years  of  insignificance  and  mockery  though  he  wel- 
comed the  power  and  influence  they  brought  and  pro- 
ceeded to  coin  them  for  his  orphans.  The  little  band 
of  admirers  he  had  in  the  beginning  had  grown  to  a 
great  host  of  true  friends.  Once  in  the  early  years,  a 
distinguished  Doctor  of  Divinity,  pastor  of  one  of  the 
large  and  wealthy  churches  of  South  Carolina,  was 
jesting  at  Synod  over  *'  little  Willie  Jacobs'  orphan 
house "  which  he  was  at  that  time  beginning  when  a 
bystander  said,  "  Doctor,  you're  the  famous  pastor  of  a 
great  church  now  but  that  '  orphan  house '  will  pre- 
serve his  memory  long  after  you've  been  forgotten ! " 
In  Clinton,  during  the  early  days,  among  his  own  sup- 
porters and  friends  was  a  wealthy  scoffer  whose  son 
and  daughter  were  later  cared  for  by  the  orphanage 
their  father  had  fought.  And  in  a  neighbouring  town 
the  man  who  had  published  in  his  paper  the  attacks 
and  accusations  of  '79  was  preparing  to  write  a  $5,000 
legacy  into  his  will  for  the  orphanage,  because  a  rela- 
tive had  received  its  help  to  such  admirable  advantage. 
Thus  was  wisdom  being  justified  of  her  children. 

Yet  even  the  wisdom  of  the  older  man  went  not 
without  question  among  the  brethren.  In  1895  he 
writes  that  "  We  offered  our  college  to  the  Synod  and 
were  refused.  Yery  fickle  is  the  favour  of  princes  and 
Sjmods  1  "  He  loved  them,  but,  for  help,  he  preferred 
God.  And  his  preference  was  well  founded,  for  won- 
derful things  kept  happening ;  "  beautiful  coincidences  " 
following  earnest  supplication.  In  December  of  the 
same  year,  Mrs.  McCormick  gave  $5,000  for  the  Edith 
Home,  a  memorial  to  her  daughter.  In  April  Mrs. 
Lees  gave  $2,500  to  beautify  and  remodel  the  first 
building  which  now  became  the  Lees'  Home  of  Peace. 


202  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMEE  JACOBS 

"  I  have  never  asked  God  for  anything  but  that  He 
gave  it  to  me !  "  he  exclaimed. 

The  following  year  his  two  sons,  Ferdinand  and 
States,  bought  the  Southern  Fresh ytei'ian^  thus  delight- 
ing his  heart  by  increasing  the  prospect  of  its  remain- 
ing in  Clinton  permanently.  In  May  of  '99  he  located 
Eiverside  Cottage  on  the  Enoree  where  for  the  follow- 
ing sixteen  summers  he  was  to  spend  many  happy  vaca- 
tion hours  with  his  children.  That  June  the  Virginia 
Home  was  progressing  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  Anita 
Home  was  laid,  both  gifts  of  Mrs.  McCormick  and  both 
named  for  her  daughters.  And  then  when  the  year 
closed  he  found  that  God  had  given  him  seventy-five 
additions  to  his  church,  the  most  fruitful  year  of  his 
ministry,  to  date,  combining  this  spiritual  blessing  with 
the  two  new  buildings  at  the  orphanage,  several  gifts 
to  the  endowment  fund,  and  the  starting  of  his  new 
church.  Only  the  college  failed  to  prosper,  waiting  for 
a  turn  of  the  tide.  His  health  also  troubled  him,  his 
voice  having  failed  again  but  "  I  find  that  when  I  do 
my  duty  the  Lord  accepts  it  all  the  same,"  he  notes, 
cheerily.  The  burden  of  building  the  new  church  bore 
heavily  on  him  during  this  and  the  three  succeeding 
j^ears.  He  constantly  hoped  to  preach  his  first  sermon 
in  it  on  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  his  first  sermon  in 
Clinton  (July  13,  1862).  At  the  spring  meeting  of 
Presbytery  he  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  four  of 
his  orphan  boys  as  candidates  for  the  ministry. 

The  following  year  (1902)  Mrs.  Lees  died,  leaving 
$10,000  to  the  orphanage.  This  was  the  largest  sum 
ever  received  up  to  that  date.  And  then,  on  the 
thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  resolve  to  found  the  or- 
phanage,   Henry   K.  McHarg,  learning  of  the  work 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  203 

through  Judge  A.  A.  Phlegar,  a  long  time  friend,  gave 
$25,000  to  the  endowment!  This,  combined  with 
other  sums,  made  a  thousand  dollars  for  each  year  and 
as  much  as  had  been  given  to  the  endowment  in  all  the 
previous  thirty  years  !  It  was  a  great  way  to  celebrate 
a  courageous  resolution  of  an  unknown  village  minister. 
He  who  seeth  in  secret  was  rewarding  openlj^ 

The  following  year  saw  the  same  steady  progress. 
It  was  also  a  year  of  travel  and  one  of  intense  sorrow. 
During  a  trip  to  the  U.  S.  A.  Assembly  at  Los  Angeles, 
one  of  his  orphanage  daughters  was  accidentally  killed 
by  an  explosion  in  the  steam  laundry.  The  news  of  it 
was  in  the  first  letter  he  received  on  his  arrival  at  the 
Assembly  and  he  immediately  left,  too  sad  to  take 
further  part  in  the  great  gathering.  The  record  of  his 
sorrow  in  his  journal  tells  how  "  Even  the  children  on 
the  train  grew  silent  with  wonder  at  the  old  man  with 
tears  running  down  his  cheeks  "  as  his  train  sped  home- 
ward. 

In  June  he  saw  New  York  again  and  Northfield  and 
New  England,  on  a  trip  to  perform  the  wedding  cere- 
mony of  his  youngest  son,  at  that  time  his  assistant  in 
the  orphanage,  to  Miss  Maud  Lesh  of  Newton  Center, 
Massachusetts.  His  next  trip  was  to  the  St.  Louis  Ex- 
position the  following  year.  Then  came  the  singular 
catastrophe  of  two  fires,  the  only  two  serious  ones 
during  his  whole  lifetime  at  the  orphanage,  one  destroy- 
ing Memorial  Hall  and  the  other  the  "  Seminary,"  or 
Academic  Building,  both  occurring  tlie  same  month 
and  within  nineteen  days  of  each  other.  But  as  they 
burned  the  sparks  flew  over  the  wires,  and  the  hearts 
of  the  thousands  of  friends  of  Thornwell  were  fired 
also,  so  that  soon  Memorial  Hall  was  built  anew  and  a 


204  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

more  beautiful  church  took  the  place  of  the  seminary. 
Such  was  the  depth  of  the  love  they  two  had  built  in 
the  hearts  of  their  friends. 

The  following  year,  1905,  he  was  enabled  to  begin 
another  building,  the  Georgia  Home,  built  by  Georgia 
friends,  of  Georgia  brick  and  Georgia  lumber,  trimmed 
with  Georgia  marble,  used  by  Georgia  boys,  and  being 
a  little  piece  of  Georgia  set  down  in  Georgia  love  on 
the  Thornwell  Campus.  While  this  was  happening  he 
was  turning  over  to  others  the  further  control  of  the 
destinies  of  his  college.  The  following  Sunday  he 
chose  as  his  text,  "  I  have  loved  Thee  with  an  everlast- 
ing love."  It  hurt  him  greatly  to  think  this  severance 
was  wise,  and  he  wondered  whether  his  resignation  of 
the  church  should  not  follow. 

The  beginning  of  1906  found  him  in  Miami  and 
when  he  returned  the  workmen  began  tearing  down 
the  old  church  building  in  which  he  had  preached  over 
forty  years.  Before  the  year  had  ended  two  good  gifts 
came  to  him,  one  the  McCall  legacy  enabling  him  to 
buy  the  old  college  building  for  his  own  Academic 
Hall,  and  the  other  assuring  him  of  a  new  home  for 
his  orphans,  the  Silliman  Cottage.  His  church  also 
kept  growing  steadily,  the  morning  services  averaging 
over  five  hundred. 

So  the  years  passed,  each  being  a  record  of  progress, 
of  prayers,  and  of  blessed  purposes  fulfilled.  The 
HoUingsworth  Home  and  the  Florida  Cottage  were  the 
gifts  of  1910,  and  in  1911  came  the  famous  trip  to 
Atlanta  on  which  the  entire  orphanage  went  to  take 
part  in  the  Presbyterian  Jubilee  and  give  their  many 
Atlanta  friends  an  opportunity  to  see  the  children  face 
to  face.     Of  this  journey  he  wrote : 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  205 

"A  very  remarkable  thing  has  happened.  The 
orphanage  has  been  transferred  bodily.  Herein  is  the 
mystery  of  modern  enterprise !  Great !  It  took,  how- 
ever, great  preparation  to  get  things  straight.  Matrons 
and  children  were  all  busy.  And  on  Saturday  (yester- 
day) morning  we  brought  240  of  the  household  over  on 
the  Seaboard  Air  Line.  A  great  crowd  met  them  at 
the  Atlanta  Station.  Five  carloads  of  children  poured 
out  into  the  arms  of  their  friends.  It  was  a  day  of 
days !  Fifty-two  automobiles  were  there  and  in  a  very 
few  minutes  they  were  loaded  with  a  happy,  merry, 
joyous  crowd  and  whirled  out  through  Atlanta  to 
Mr.  J.  H.  Honours',  miles  into  the  country.  There 
they  had  a  splendid  lunch  tendered  them,  which  they 
enjoyed  to  the  full,  and  were  thence  distributed  to 
their  friends  and  to  the  sights  of  Atlanta.  My  resting- 
place  was  with  Thornwell,  whither  I  was  taken  by 
Mrs.  Honour.  Thornwell  gave  a  reception  that  night 
— a  supper.  Dr.  Burrell  was  there,  who  is  to  preach 
to-day,  and  my  good  friends  Mr.  Sam  Inman,  John 
Egan,  Frank  Inman,  J.  K.  Orr,  J.  K.  Ottley,  Professor 
Matheson  (President  of  the  Tech),  and  others,  and  we 
sat  up  till  11 :  45.  To-day  I  spent  at  the  Central 
Church  and  Sunday  School,  and  preached  at  the 
North  Avenue  Church  to-night.     .     .     . 

".  .  .  Well,  we  reached  home  last  eve  after  a 
famous  journey.  We  will  never  forget  it.  The 
Charleston  trip  of  1902  was  a  great  one  but  the 
Atlanta  trip  was  a  greater,  for  our  dear  orphans  were 
made  much  of  in  what  was  the  greatest  gathering  of 
Presbyterians  in  the  South.  They  occupied  the  plat- 
form (amazing  thing !),  they  furnished  most  of  the 
music,  singing  one  piece  alone.    Thornwell  certainly 


206  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

arranged  a  fine  program.  I  enjoyed  Dr.  Burrell's 
sermon  greatly.  I  was  on  the  platform  and  had  the 
honour  of  pronouncing  the  benediction. 

".  .  .  In  the  afternoon  we  gathered  for  a  special 
orphanage  event  in  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
with  nearly  two  thousand  people  present.  The  orphans 
filled  the  center  tier  of  seats  and  their  choir  was  the 
choir  of  the  occasion.  I  conducted  the  exercises,  draw- 
ing them  out  in  Scripture  passages  and  songs,  and  I 
gave  the  people  the  story  of  the  founding  of  the  or- 
phanage. After  the  services  we  had  a  regular  ovation, 
and  not  least  of  those  who  came  up  to  give  a  loving 
grip  were  the  old  girls — Mary,  Bessie,  Lucy  Feebeck, 
Jim  Moffett  (I  hadn't  heard  of  him  for  twenty  years), 
Walter  Chamblee,  Lillian  Nelson,  and  dear  Cassie 
Oliver,  Louise  Happoldt,  Kate  Upchurch,  Ella  Harper, 
and  yet  others.  God  bless  them.  It  was  a  day  to  be 
remembered  in  heaven.     .     .     . 

".  .  .  The  return  trip  was  great.  What  a  meet- 
ing we  had  in  the  waiting  room  a.t  the  S.  A.  L.  in 
Atlanta— the  singing— Dr.  Holderby's  prayer— the  Ra, 
Ra,  Ra's— and  on  the  train,  Conductor  Seal  decorated 
to  the  point  of  agony.  Well,  it  is  over,  but  the  in- 
fluence will  long  continue  with  the  little  folks." 

His  eyes  gave  him  increasing  anxiety,  but  he  kept 
praying  for  fifty  souls  during  that  year  and  received 
sixty.  "I  shall  have  to  find  some  way  of  working 
without  eyes  or  ears,"  he  exclaimed,  "  but  it  will  be  a 
fight.  I  believe  in  fighting  to  the  end  !  "  The  follow- 
ing year  was  made  notable  by  the  meeting  of  the 
Synod  in  his  church.  He  was  elected  moderator  and 
immediately  resigned,  being  unable  either  to  hear  or 
see. 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  207 

But  neither  prevented  1912  from  being  a  notable 
year  in  the  life  of  the  orphanage.  Beautiful  among 
the  days  of  that  year  was  the  one  on  which  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Lesh  gave  the  Lesh  Infirmary  where  little  orphan 
sufferers  could  be  nursed  back  to  life  and  health  again. 
The  Sam  Jones  Cottage,  the  Sherrard  Cottage,  and  the 
Florida  made  the  year  a  blessed  one  also.  These  all 
were  being  built  or  about  to  be  begun  on  April  14th, 
that  fateful  Sabbath  morning  of  the  sinking  of  the 
Titanic.  In  the  following  May,  on  the  memorable 
28th,  he  assisted  in  installing  his  successor,  Rev.  Frank 
Dudley  Jones,  as  pastor  of  his  church,  the  story  of 
which  is  reserved  for  later  mention.  The  following 
year  (1913)  found  him  busy  building  the  Lesh  Infirmary, 
the  Florida  Cottage,  and  the  Tom  Jones  Memorial 
Museum.  The  reader  pauses  as  he  notes  this  last  to 
reflect  upon  the  picture  he  recalls  of  a  little  boy  in 
Charleston  wandering  through  the  aisles  of  the  Museum 
there.     He  had  gotten  it  at  last ! 

In  May,  1913,  he  was  present  at  the  great  Pan 
Presbyterian  Pentecost  in  Atlanta,  opening  the  first 
union  mass  meeting  of  the  four  assemblies  with  prayer, 
meeting  literally  thousands  of  his  friends  and  adding 
the  blessing  of  his  presence  to  that  great  gathering. 

The  year  of  the  first  World  War  came  to  injure  his 
receipts  and  raised  the  cost  of  living  for  his  three  hun- 
dred children.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  last  scene 
of  his  life  drama.  During  a  great  war  he  had  come  to 
Clinton,  and  during  a  great  war  he  was  to  leave^,  yet 
his  faith  shone  out  with  the  needed  brightness.  He 
immediately  asked  God  for  a  notable  gift  during  1914 
to  bear  witness  of  His  continual  and  increasing  love. 
Instantaneously  the  answer  came  but  he  knew  it  not. 


208  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

A  letter  brought  the  announcement  that  a  lady  in 
Georgia  had  left  ^10,000  to  the  Synod  of  Georgia  to 
found  an  orphanage  in  that  state,  and  should  the  Synod 
not  find  the  way  clear  so  to  do  the  entire  sum  was  to 
go  to  Thornwell.  All  during  the  following  year  he 
kept  worrying  over  this  beautiful  thing  that  God  was 


MA?  OF 

CUNTON,S.C 


The  Clinton  of  1913. 

doing  for  him.  Was  he  about  to  lose  the  support  of 
the  generous  hearted  Synod  of  Georgia  without  whose 
help  he  saw  no  way  to  continue  his  orphan  work  on  the 
present  scale !  He  had  asked  for  a  notable  gift  and  had 
received  a  notable  calamity.  So,  at  least,  it  seemed  to 
him  who  did  not  know  how  the  Synod  of  Georgia  would 
decline  to  found  another  orphanage,  loving  Thornwell 
too  well  to  subtract  from  her  support.     Thus  a  whole 


m  THE  LATER  YEARS 


209 


state  was  to  endorse  the  gift  with  her  love.  Down  to 
Florida  he  was  driven  to  heal  the  hacking  cough  that 
had  seized  him.  *'  I  am  coughing  all  the  time,"  he 
wrote,  "  but  I  am  also  thanking  God  for  His  good- 
ness I "  The  death  on  July  12th  of  his  adopted  daugh- 
ter, Mollie,  saddened  him  greatly.  He  had  not  for- 
gotten how  his  own  mother  had  been  adopted  by  the 
sainted  Dr.  Wm.  S.  Plumer,  his  own  name  bearing  wit- 
ness to  it.  Taken  by  and  large  it  was  a  sad  year  and 
trying.  A  beautiful  chapter  in  it  was  his  presence  in 
Atlanta  on  January  21,  1915,  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  Oglethorpe  University,  taking  part  in 
the  exercises  and  adding  his  blessing  to  that  memorable 
occasion. 

This  institution,  Oglethorpe  University,  might  almost 
be  spoken  of  as  another  school  of  his  founding,  for  it 
was  born  of  his  spirit  of  service  and  faith  and  passed 
through  the  same  dark  hour  of  abuse  and  attack. 

Founded  originally  in  the  thirties  of  the  eighteenth 

century,  for  many  years  it  had  done  its  great  work 

numbering  LeConte,  and  Talmadge  and  Woodrow  as 

well  as  his  own  father,  among  its  teachers,  and  a  host 

of  able  men  among  its  alumni,  including  Sidney  Lanier 

one  of  the   seven   immortals  of   American  literature! 

Destroyed  by  the  war  between  the  states,  for  a  half 

century  It  had  slept  beneath  the  gray  ashes  of  fratri- 

cidal  strife  until  the  work  of  refounding  it  was  begun 

by  his  youngest  son  in  Atlanta,  that  it  might  become 

the  great  Southern  Presbyterian  University,  drawing 

Its  support  and   resources  from  and   distributing  its 

blessings  to  the  whole  South  and  nation.     He  saw  in  it 

no  danger  of  rivalry  to  his  own  college  but  quickly 

gave  It  his  money,  his  prayers  and  his  support.     It 


210  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

took  him  far  back  into  tlie  past  when  he  read  the  at- 
tacks made  upon  the  infancy  of  this  great  enterprise. 
Having  himself  learned  not  to  fear  any  form  of  eccle- 
siastical politics  or  institutional  jealousy,  he  wrote  to 
its  young  president  not  to  be  afraid  and  recalled,  as  if 
it  had  now  become  a  blessed  memory,  the  calumnies 
and  slander  that  were  once  his  portion.  In  Our 
Monthly  (October,  1916)  he  set  forth  his  own  spirit  of 
rivalry  in  kindness  rather  than  jealousy,  thus : 

"  We  had  the  pleasure  quite  recently  of  being  in  a 
very  great  and  wonderful  audience  of  Presbyterian 
people.  Over  five  thousand  were  present.  The  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  Auditorium  of  Atlanta.  It  was  an 
outpouring  of  the  great  Presbyterian  forces  in  the  most 
Presbyterian  city  in  the  South.  Their  purpose  was  to 
thank  God  for  the  opening  of  Oglethorpe  University. 
Two  hours  were  spent  in  exercises  suited  to  the  occa- 
sion. The  President  of  the  United  States  honoured  the 
assembly  with  a  special  telegraphic  message.  The 
Mayor  of  the  great  city  of  Atlanta,  himself  the  founder 
of  a  great  university,  was  present  and  addressed  the 
body.  Our  own  theological  seminary  in  Columbia, 
through  its  president,  Dr.  Whaling,  brought  greet- 
ings. Oglethorpe  will  become  a  feeder  of  this  semi- 
nary. If  those  who  kick  at  this  institution  had  been 
present  they  would  certainly  have  halted  before  they 
gave  another  kick.  One  cannot  easily  kick  down  a 
mountain.  The  Oglethorpe  movement  is  growing.  Its 
plans  are  magnificently  beautiful.  Its  success  is  com- 
mensurate with  the  hopes  of  the  founders.  That  it  is 
to  succeed  is  sure.  Atlanta  is  behind  the  movement. 
Its  people  are  gratified  with  the  beginning  of  things. 
You  will  hear  more  of  Oglethorpe. 


IN  THE  LATEK  YEARS  211 

"  While  in  private  conversation  the  president  of 
Oglethorpe  said  that  he  regarded  the  Emory  Uni- 
versity as  one  of  their  greatest  assets.  It  would  help 
make  of  Atlanta  a  university  city.  It  would  naturally 
attract  a  large  body  of  the  finest  men  of  the  South  to 
it,  and  would  give  to  Oglethorpe  a  stronger  hold  on 
Presbyterian  patronage.  Hearing  these  things  led  us 
to  think  how  utterly  short  sighted  is  institutional  jeal- 
ousy. When  Thorn  well  Orphanage  was  founded  it  had 
the  whole  Southern  Church  at  its  back.  Very  naturally 
when  another  orphanage  was  started  it  cut  off  many 
interested  friends  from  the  number  of  its  subscribers. 
The  president  of  Thorn  well  felt  for  a  little  while  that 
it  was  a  pity  the  field  should  be  divided.  He  knows 
better  now.  The  fellowship  and  companionship  of 
other  institutions  has  given  Thornwell  a  warmer  place 
in  the  hearts  of  its  patrons  while  the  growth  of  the 
church  has  increased  the  number  of  its  patrons  many 
fold.  As  to  the  orphans,  they  are  reaping  the  benefit. 
Every  Synod  in  the  South  now  has  its  institution  either 
singly  or  in  copartnership.  A  few  churches  and  Sab- 
bath schools  in  other  than  our  own  field  still  stand  by 
Thornwell.  Children  come  to  us  from  at  least  ten  dif- 
ferent Synods.  We  get  no  help  from  beyond  the 
waters  but  we  do  get*  help  from  almost  every  state  in 
the  Union.  This  is  only  a  relic  of  our  ancient  inher- 
itance, but  we  believe  it  is  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
fact  that  those  who  love  and  maintain  the  Thornwell 
Orphanage  have  laid  aside  from  their  hearts  jealousy 
of  others.  Institutions  under  the  care  of  our  Almighty 
Father  cannot  die.  He  will  not  let  them  live  if  they 
chei'ish  malice^  or  hatred^  or  jealousy  toioards  other 
ivorhers  in  His  own  field.     This  is  the  meaning  of  the 


212  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Master's  saying  '  Forbid  them  not ;  he  that  is  not 
against  us  is  for  us.'" 

This  was  one  reason  why  he  was  so  universally 
loved:  no  jealousy,  no  pulling  of  the  wires  of  ec- 
clesiastical politics,  no  packing  of  Presbyteries  or  As- 
semblies to  carry  action  adverse  to  a  rival ;  instead,  a 
definite  refusal  to  have  a  rival  because  of  a  great,  gen- 
erous heart  that  wanted  to  help,  not  to  surpass  his 
brother.  Is  it  any  wonder  that,  immediately  upon  his 
death,  a  fund  was  started  at  Oglethorpe  to  build  a 
memorial  to  him  into  the  life  of  the  University  of 
whose  board  of  directors  he  had  become  a  member. 
Thus  shall  it  ever  be  done  unto  the  man  whom  the 
King  delighteth  to  honour. 

The  following  year  saw  the  ending  of  many  familiar 
companionships.  "I  find  that  I  cannot  see  now  to 
read  at  all,"  he  wrote,  "  but  I  can  preach.  I  did  it 
twice  to-day  ! "  The  last  entry  of  his  journal  in  his 
own  handwriting  is  on  November  14th.  ^'  Nearly 
blind,"  he  records  laconically.  Afterwards  came  the 
operation  for  cataract  on  one  of  the  two  eyes  they 
had  dimmed,  which  was  followed  in  turn  by  eight 
weeks  of  anxious  watching  for  light  that  was  not  to 
come. 

Through  the  story  of  these  eventful  years  runs  the 
golden  thread  of  the  Great  Discovery.  No  pen  may 
describe  these  happenings  so  well  as  his  own,  found 
here  and  there  in  his  diary  written  in  fresh  and  glow- 
ing words  as  he  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  event 
itself.  While  they  are  of  the  same  sort  as  the  others 
elsewhere  found  in  this  story  and  are  set  dovm  as  only 
selected  samples  of  many  similar  occurrences  they  form 
tb©  ohi^f  valtt©  of  all  the  outward  triumphs  ol  wbioh 


William  P.  Jacobs  at  various  ages 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  2l8 

they  are  the  interpretations.  Here  are  some  of  tiie 
more  astonishing. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  pleasant  absence  from  home 
and  neglect  of  office  work,  and  notwithstanding  the 
heavy  increase  that  I  had  in  our  receipts  for  the  past 
four  months,  I  find  that  already  we  are  beyond  $1,000 
for  this  month  and  I  still  hope  for  a  little  increase. 
The  exact  prayer  I  offered  was  for  $1,000  anyway,  and 
for  $1,200  if  the  Lord  could  give  it.  He  has  sent  me 
$1,050  for  support,  $62  for  machinery,  $50  for  furni- 
ture, making  a  total  of  $1,162,  and  one  day  yet  to  hear 
from.  (Before  Saturday  ended  I  had  received  the 
$1,200.) 

*'  Last  month  I  asked  the  Lord  for  $1,200.  He  gave 
me  $1,226.  I  have  again  to  thank  God  for  having,  in 
a  very  peculiar  manner,  answered  my  prayers  and  such 
prayers  that  it  seemed  to  me  the  direct  result  w^as  this 
answer.  I  asked  $888.  He  gave  me,  reserving  the 
answer  to  the  last  moment,  $913.  The  circumstances 
were  such  that  this  could  not  have  been  accidental. 
God's  hand  was  in  it  and  no  other.     I  am  satisfied. 

"  Three  days  ago  I  asked  the  Lord  to  cheer  me  with 
some  large  gift  for  endowment,  and  to  put  it  then  in 
some  one's  heart  to  give  it.  To-day  I  received  the  gift 
from  a  new  source  of  $500  for  the  endowment !  On 
the  first  day  of  June  I  asked  for  $900  this  month  for 
the  support  fund.     I  have  already  received  it ! 

"  God  has  already  given  me  all  I  asked  for  July  and 
more.  It  is  wonderful  how  this  blessed  Lord  remem- 
bers. He  keeps  me  under  the  shadow  of  His  wing. 
My  prayers  are  utterly  worthless  as  literary  produc- 
tions. I  just  go  to  God  and  say,  *  Lord,  give  me  $1,067 
for  this  month,'  and  He  gives  me  $1,167.     That  is  all 


214  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

there  is  of  it.  I  always  fix  my  request  for  more  than 
I  need  and  I  always  have  given  me  more  than  I  ask 
I  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  I  glory  in  His  holy  name.  I 
received  $10.04  to-day.  I  received  $86.25  yesterday. 
So  it  comes,  in  sums  great  or  small. 

''  On  June  14th  I  prayed  (see  date)  for  $1,000  from 
some  source  for  this  cause.  On  July  14th,  I  received 
it !  Well,  God  is  good,  and  this  is  a  wonderful  way 
that  He  has.  Of  course  it  was  all  ^  accident.'  Bosh  ! 
How  can  so  many  accidents  happen  ?  I  have  had  thou- 
sands of  these  '  accidents  '  in  my  experience.  Some- 
how or  other  they  make  me  very  happy.  When  I 
think  about  them  I  think  of  the  almighty  love  that 
grants  our  accidents. 

"  The  Lord  answered  a  prayer  for  me  yesterday  that 
I  had  forgotten  I  had  offered.  Three  weeks  ago  I 
asked  that  before  February  ended  He  would  make  the 
cash  in  hand  $1,000,  as  we  needed  that  to  pay  for  the 
land  we  are  about  to  buy.  Yesterday  He  sent  me  the 
little  balance  of  $G5  needed  to  fill  out  the  amount. 
How  good  God  is  ! 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  I  earnestly  prayed 
God  to  send  me  through  Mrs.  McCormick  $500  more 
for  the  Gordon  Cottage.  At  that  same  hour  she  mailed 
a  check  to  me  for  $500  for  that  purpose.  I  had  not 
written  to  her  for  a  month. 

"  I  wonder  if  it  would  be  possible  for  the  dear  Lord 
to  give  me  $1,800  this  month. 

"  I  want  to  thank  God  for  His  goodness  in  showing 
me  that  it  is  possible  to  give  me  $1,800  I  asked  for  and 
$98  besides,  and  that  over  and  above  all  receipts  from 
endowment  this  year  set  apart  to  a  definite  purpose. 

"  The  Lord's  name  is  to  be  praised.     This  morning  I 


IN  THE  LATER  YEARS  215 

had  $1,500  in  hand  for  the  support  fund.  I  was  saying 
to  myself — for  ouce  is  my  boasting  vain !  Alas,  the 
Lord  is  rebuking  the  vain  glory  of  His  servant.  When 
my  mail  came  in  it  helped  me  wonderfully.  There  was 
a  single  check  for  $400  and  others  that  brought  me 
nearly  to  $2,300.  Then  there  was  a  tap  on  the  door. 
A  young  man  asked  to  see  me  privately  and  handed  me 
$300  !  I  had  received  my  $2,500— more  than  that.  I 
had  $175  returned  to  another  fund  that  I  had  borrowed 
from  to  make  out  my  $1,500.  I  turned  over  to  the 
treasurer  $2,675.  In  a  single  day  I  had  received  $1,175 
as  against  $l,5uO  for  twenty-nine  days  preceding.  How 
wonderfullj^  God  has  helped  !  He  has  always  shown 
Himself  to  be  marvellous  in  mercies.  I  rejoice  in  Him. 
But  this  is  not  all.  I  had  asked  the  dear  Lord  that  He 
would  have  the  McOall  legacy,  which  goes  to  our  per- 
manent fund,  paid  also.  It  came  in  promptly.  It  is 
with  this  sum  that  we  will  be  able,  if  it  is  so  deter- 
mined, to  purchase  the  old  college  building.  So  with 
this  last  day  of  Novem.ber  I  am  glad  of  heart.  We 
had  a  fine  gathering  at  the  Thanksgiving  service. 
Neville  preached. 

"  Well,  the  Lord  has  dealt  bountifully  with  me.  He 
gave  me  the  $2,500  I  pleaded  for.  We  closed  the 
month  with  $4,300  in  the  treasury.  It  is  a  most  myste- 
rious thing  He  is  doing  in  and  through  and  for  me.  My 
heart  is  glad  in  Him.     This  year  is  a  3^ear  of  mercies. 

"  I  want  to  thank  God  out  of  my  whole  heart  for  His 
most  gracious  answer  to  my  prayer.  He  has  sent  me  up 
to  this  moment  $6,175  for  the  support  fund.  I  prayed 
for  $6,000  most  earnestly.  He  has  answered  me  with  a 
large  and  liberal  hand.  Oh,  how  good  God  is !  He 
certainly  is  good  to  me.     I  glory  in  His  name.     He 


216  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

will  do  all  things  right  and  best.  I  also  received  ;^700 
on  the  endowment,  and  ^200  on  the  Georgia  cottage 
fund,  and  ;^200  on  other  funds.  In  all  ;$1 2,000  came 
into  my  hands.  I  understand  that  the  college  received 
a  gift  of  ^3,000. 

"  I  earnestly  desired  ^2,000  this  month.  I  prayed 
and  laboured  for  ^$1,500  and  I  got  just  exactly  that.  I 
wish  I  had  faith  to  believe  that  I  could  get  ^2,000  in 
June,  but  I  fear  my  faith  is  not  sufficient.  I  will  pray 
for  ;^2,000  but  confidently  expect  ^1,500. 

*'  God  is  dealing  kindly  with  me  and  is  giving  me 
the  ;$2,000.  It  is  simply  w^onderful.  I  had  no  hope  of 
getting  this  sum.     It  has  just  come  streaming  in. 

"  I  thank  God  for  ^2,000  in  June  for  the  orphanage  I 
He  hath  heard  my  prayer.  Last  year  the  June  re- 
ceipts were  ;^1,346. 

"  The  Lord  marvellously  answered  one  of  my  prayers 
yesterday,  bringing  to  me  a  gift  of  ^300  not  only  from 
the  man  I  asked  Him  to  move,  and  for  the  very  sum  1 
asked,  but  at  the  very  time  of  the  prayer.  Incidentally 
this  answer  to  prayer  will  bring  the  answer  to  yet  an- 
other, for  it  will  result  in  giving  me  this  month  the  sum 
of  money  for  which  I  petitioned  our  bountiful  Bene- 
factor. 

"  I  found  to  my  surprise  and  delight  that  the  Lord 
had  given  me  all  I  asked  for  and  ^10  more.  I  asked 
Him  for  $2,222.  He  gave  me  $2,232,  for  which  I  most 
gratefully  thank  Him.  My  heart  is  glad  when  I  think 
how  grandly  He  serves  me.  Why  did  I  fix  that  singu- 
lar sum  ? — just  because  I  asked  Him  to  give  me  a  living 
proof  that  His  answer  to  my  prayer  was  a  living  proof 
of  His  presence  and  not  an  accident. 

"  As  it  has  been  a  good  while  since  I  had  made  re- 


m  THE  LATER  YEARS  217 

ceipt  of  any  large  gift,  I  asked  the  Lord  on  Tuesday 
last  to  give  to  the  support  fund  ^100,  or  more,  in  one 
gift  before  Saturday,  and  in  such  way  as  He  thought 
best.  He  sent  me  on  Friday  twenty  barrels  of  flour 
worth  ^100,  or  more,— the  most  acceptable  gift,  and  in 
the  most  acceptable  way  in  which  He  could  have  sent 
it !  I  asked  Him  to  do  this  to  evidence  His  loving  care 
over  the  orphans.  Under  all  the  circumstances  I  am 
sure  this  was  a  miracle.  I  do  not  know  who  the  donor 
was.     It  is  God's  gift,  pure  and  simple." 

As  we  read  this  amazing  record  we  begin  to  under- 
stand his  own  comment  on  the  way  God  answered  his 
prayers.  "  He  always  does,"  he  writes.  "  It  is  very 
wonderful." 


XX 

MOVING  HIS  COLLEGE 

As  if  it  were  a  precious  thing  to  this  then  hold  thou  fast ; 
"Who  wrote  the  first  line  of  thy  life  will  also  write  the  last. 

And  if  the  final  chapter  leaves  thee  lonely  in  thy  loss, 

Yet  know,  His  was  the  greatest  life  who  bore  the  greatest  cross. 

THE  supreme  law  of  God  is  to  learn  the  truth, 
to  love  it,  to  follow  it,  to  worship  it  and  it 
only.  And  though  intellects  differ  both  in 
form  and  content,  producing  different  beliefs  and  con- 
victions, fear  not.  For  all  are  true,  there  is  no  discord 
to  those  who  know  the  key  to  the  harmony.  And  to 
God  each  is  alike  good  if  only  the  supreme  love  be  for 
the  truth,  and  the  supreme  gift  of  unselfish  devotion  to 
it  be  given. 

One  must  go  back  a  long  way  to  appreciate  the  pang 
of  terror  which  struck  the  heart  of  Wm.  P.  Jacobs 
when  he  learned  that  there  was  a  movement  on  foot  to 
move  his  college  from  Clinton  to  some  other  point  in 
South  Carolina.  His  college  represented  that  part  of 
his  life  which  laboured  in  pure  truth  and  was  his  con- 
tribution to  the  intellectual  life  of  his  church  and  com- 
munity. It  was  practically  the  same  thing  as  to  propose 
to  take  away  his  son  or  his  daughter  or  anything  he 
loved  devotedly.  He  had  made  that  college  by  toil 
and  prayer.  Under  the  blessing  of  God  he  had 
brought  it  up  out  of  nothingness,  while  men  laughed 

218 


MOVING  HIS  COLLEGE  219 

at  him  for  trying.  Furthermore,  to  move  it  from  Clin- 
ton was  to  mar  the  lesson  his  life  had  taught  "  that  a 
little  country  church  could  be  made  a  tower  of  light 
and  strength."  His  orphanage  was  the  light  of  philan- 
thropy, his  college  of  philosophy,  as  his  church  of  re- 
ligion, and  was  it  not  as  philosopher,  philanthropist 
and  preacher  that  he  wished  to  be  remembered  ? 

Any  one  who  had  seen  him  nurse  the  little  high 
school  into  a  college  for  the  sake  of  teaching  this  lesson 
would  know  at  once  that  to  remove  the  college  any- 
where was  robbery. 

But  the  contest  came  on ;  for  other  towns,  once  the 
matter  had  been  mentioned,  had  offered  handsome 
bonuses  and  there  seemed  much  to  be  gained  for  the 
school  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  favoured  it.  Great 
sums  had  been  raised  in  sister  towns  and  many  advan- 
tages offered.  Of  course  there  was  hot  local  opposition 
to  the  scheme  and  the  founder  and  quarter-century 
president  of  its  Board  of  Trustees  protested,  but  all  to 
no  avail.     Whether  or  no,  the  thing  must  be  done. 

"  I  have  found  out  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
ungrateful,"  he  writes  in  June,  1905,  "  after  the  manner 
of  other  republics.  Our  college  is  to  be  taken  from  us 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  that  we  ourselves  provided 
for.  It  is  a  shameful  thing  and  one  that  makes  me 
hang  my  head.  I  resigned  my  presidency  of  the 
Board  after  all  these  twenty-five  years  of  service  and 
received  in  return  not  one  word  of  kind  commenda- 
tion, not  one  syllable  of  regret,  not  one  expression  of 
encouragement ;  but  as  pay  for  all  my  services  only  the 
throwing  open  the  sale  of  the  college  to  the  highest 
bidder. 

"  The  college  will  continue  here  next  year  and  then 


220  THE  LIFE  OP  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

it  leaves  us.  What  will  I  do  ?  I  have  already  decided 
that  our  college  association  will  take  steps  to  continue 
Clinton  College.  We  will  claim  for  it  the  history  of 
the  past.  Our  session  will  open  in  1907.  It  will  be 
our  twenty-seventh  year.  We  will  find  a  man  equal  to 
the  task  of  reorganization.  For  once,  our  dependence 
is  on  the  Lord." 

Yet  this  was  a  new  and  untried  field  of  dependence 
on  Him  and  it  remained  to  be  seen  whether  his  trust 
would  be  in  vain. 

"  My  trust  is  in  the  Lord,"  he  writes.  "  He  is  doing, 
He  always  has  done  the  thing  for  me  that  was  best.  I 
trust  Him  out  of  a  full  heart."     .     .     . 

" .  .  .  Well,  this  also  is  decided,  that  if  the  col- 
lege is  moved  to  Chester,  or  Anderson,  or  anywhere 
else  it  will  leave  Clinton  College  behind.  Lord,  keep 
Thou  Thy  hand  upon  this  move  and  guide  for  the  best." 

If  he  really  meant  that,  he  was  to  have  a  strangely 
beautiful  experience.  For  of  one  thing  those  may  be 
sure  who  know  all  about  God  ;  that  they  know  nothing 
at  all  about  Him.  He  is  always  different  though  He 
be  always  the  same.  It  seems  to  be  His  delight,  if  one 
may  so  speak,  to  be  found  faithful  in  new  ways  and  to 
beautify  His  providences  by  variety  of  incident. 

For  lo,  a  strange  thing  happened,  even  that  for 
which  the  founder  of  the  college  for  years  had  prayed. 
It  was  as  if  God  had  answered  his  prayers  for  his  or- 
phanage one  by  one  as  offered  and  had  now  determined 
to  answer  those  for  his  college  all  in  a  heap. 

*'  A  wonderful  thing  has  happened,"  he  exclaimed. 
*'  Clinton  has  actually  subscribed  ^$10,000  for  the  college. 
It  will  probably  be  increased  to  ;^1 5,000  and  it  may  go 
to  ;^25,000.     I   earnestly  hope    so.     This  looks   as  if 


MOVING  HIS  COLLEGE  221 

Clinton  were  going  to  keep  the  college !  Still  there  is 
no  telling  Avhat  prejudices  may  do.  Clinton  (et  ego 
ipse)  has  some  cordial  enemies.  Still  it  is  easy  to  see 
what  we  can  do,  if  it  is  determined  that  Clinton  College 
shall  continue." 

But  the  Power  was  not  yet  done.  The  Board  of 
Management  must  be  changed.  Clinton  should  no 
longer  control  the  college.  The  Presbvterians  of  the 
state  must  do  that.  Then  at  any  time  the  college 
could  be  done  with  as  they  pleased.  It  was  to  become 
the  property  of  other  people  than  Clintonians.  The 
Presbyterians  of  the  state  were  to  own  it.  They, 
therefore,  should  settle  its  location.  If  they  wanted  it 
elsewhere  let  them  move  it.  All  this  was  a  bitter  pill 
to  one  who  was  praying  earnestly  against  it. 

"The  college  will  be  bid  for  by  Yorkville,  Chester, 
Bennettsville,  Sumter,"  he  notes,  "  and  possibly  Ander- 
son. So  much  rancour  has  been  developed  here  that  the 
Board  will  doubtless  move  it  anyway.  Clinton  is  a 
house  divided  against  itself.  ^  Our  leaders '  are  new 
men  and  we  old  friends  are  set  aside  severely.  It  is 
my  policy  to  sit  still.  I  am  for  peace,  but  when  I 
speak  they  are  for  war.     So  I  won't  speak." 

"  The  very  close  future  seems  to  reveal  me  as  doing 
the  resigning  act.  I  must  give  the  church  a  new  pastor. 
My  life  henceforth  narrows  to  the  orphanage  and  to  my 
family.  I  will  not  resign  in  a  storm.  I  want  every- 
thmg  to  be  peaceful  and  full  of  good  will  when  I  step 
down  and  out." 

So  the  harder  he  prayed  the  worse  it  got.  Yet  if  he 
had  taken  down  a  very  old  book  in  his  library  he 
could  have  read  the  gtory  of  St.  Augustine  and  his 
Mother  Monioa  who  pmyicl  with  all  thi  tmdev  ©mo- 


222  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

tions  of  a  mother's  heart  that  her  young  son  might  be 
spared  the  temptation  of  voluptuous  Rome  and  kept 
from  its  polluting  touch.  Yet  God  against  her  suppli- 
cations let  him  go  directly  there.  But  imagine  her  de- 
light when  he  met  there  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan  and  by 
him  was  taught  to  love  God.  Thus  her  petition  was 
denied  but  her  prayer  was  answered. 

It  is  an  old  way  of  His  and  one  easily  forgotten. 

"  I  think  we  might  as  well  stop  saying '  If  the  college 
is  moved.'  It  is  now — 'When  the  college  is  moved.' 
If  Columbia  decides  to  bid  for  it,  or  Anderson,  to  one 
or  the  other  it  will  go.  And  Anderson  is  going  to 
bid."     So  he  feels  in  September,  1905. 

But  on  one  thing  he  had  not  reckoned,  the  effect  of 
forty  years  of  high  thinking  and  noble  example  and 
earnest  preaching  in  a  community  of  Scotch-Irish 
people.  Clinton  was  now  aroused.  If  Bennettsville 
could  bid,  why  not  they  ?  Who  was  this  Columbia 
that  would  take  away  their  child  ?  And  the  little  vil- 
lage soon  found  some  of  its  reserve  strength.  It  seemed 
impossible  but  it  was  happening.  This  hopeless  dere- 
lict of  forty  years  ago  was  now  bidding  for  its  college 
against  the  wealthiest  and  most  cultured  centers  of  the 
state.  Was  God  trying  to  say  anything  to  him  in  that 
fact,  something  of  encouragement  and  praise  ?  Who 
had  wrought  this  transformation  but  he,  through 
God? 

"The  Clinton  people  have,  with  great  enthusiasm, 
subscribed  ^20,000  to  secure  the  college,  in  addition  to 
^20,000  of  other  property."     .     .     . 

"...     But  Bennettsville  has  raised  ^20,000  more." 

"...     I  will  wait  and  see." 

So  he  stood  still  m^  3a w  the  salvation  of  God,  and 


MOVING  HIS  COLLEGE  223 

a  new  chapter  was  added  to  his  interpretation  of  Divine 
Providence,  as  Euripides  said  long  ago  : 

**  What  else  is  wisdom,  what  of  man^s  endeavour, 
Of  God's  high  grace,  so  lovely  and  so  great? 
To  stand,  from  fear  set  free,  to  breathe  and  wait, 
To  hold  a  hand  uplifted  over  hate, 
Shall  not  such  loveliness  be  loved  forever  ? '' 

Then  came  the  denouement ;  he  wrote  it  thus : 
"  Well,  thank  God,  the  college  matter  is  settled  and 
settled  right.  Clinton  rose  up  in  her  strength  and 
resolved  that  she  would  have  the  college.  Thirty  or 
more  of  us  went  down  to  Columbia  on  Thursday.  The 
Board  met  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  seminary  chapel. 
Each  of  the  five  towns  competing  for  the  cause  was 
heard.  Kev.  Mr.  Parrott  spoke  for  the  Clinton  delega- 
tion. He  certainly  fired  up  finely.  The  old  chapel 
heard  more  applause  than  it  ever  heard  before.  The 
whole  meeting  was  a  grand  one.  Eennettsville,  York- 
viile,  Sumter,  and  Chester  were  all  competing  for  the 
prize.  All  the  next  day  the  Board  was  in  session.  At 
7  P.  M.  Clinton  won  out  and  the  vote  was  made  unani- 
mous. I  thank  God.  There  was  a  regular  love  feast. 
All  of  us  made  up  with  each  other,  and  now  the  one 
great  idea  is  to  make  the  college  a  most  worthy  and  noble 
institution.  I  left  Columbia  at  1  A.  M.  and  reached 
home  at  5  a.  m.,  tired  and  sleepy.  The  town  has 
coA^ered  itself  with  glory.  ^ My''  college  is  noio  the 
staters  college — and  I  am  proud!  I  trusted  everything 
to  God  and  triumphed.  God  bless  and  prosper  the 
college !      Clinton    is    having    great    times   over   her 


224  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Truly  it  was  as  the  ancient  chorus  sang  : 

'*  There  be  many  shapes  of  mystery 
And  many  things  God  makes  to  be, 

Past  hope  and  fear  ; 
And  the  end  men  looked  for  cometh  not ; 
And  a  path  is  there  where  no  man  thought  j 
So  hath  it  happened  here  !  " 


XXI 
GIVING  UP  THE  CHUECH 

Do  you  hear  the  sound  of  Fall  in  the  wind  ? 

Do  you  mark  the  fear  of  the  leaf  ? 
Do  you  feel  the  kiss  of  the  mist  ?     Do  you  mind 
The  brown  of  the  shock  and  the  sheaf  ? 
Go  gather  all  thy  harvests  home ; 
The  cold  will  come ! 

IN  every  well-ordered  life  there  is  the  great  desire. 
It  is  the  string  binding  together  all  the  beads  of 
victory.    It  is  the  goal  towards  which  our  foot- 
steps turn,  light  with  joy,  weary  with  woe. 
And  as  Phaedra  said  centuries  ago : 

**  Some  grow  too  soon  weary  and  some  swerve 
To  other  paths,  setting  before  the  Eight, 
The  diverse,  far-off  image  of  Delight." 

It  was  not  so  with  the  youth  who  was  shunted  off 
by  Providence  into  the  little  hope  of  a  place  called 
Clinton.  He  had  many  dreams  but  one  was  more 
recurrent  than  the  rest.  He  had  many  intentions  but 
of  them  all  one  was  the  most  insistent.  He  wanted  to 
preach.  It  was  his  joy.  He  really  counted  it  a  privi- 
lege. All  that  he  was  and  wanted  to  be  found  ex- 
pression in  it.  The  preacher's  dressy  long  coat,  white 
tie,  stiff  collar,  black  shoes  and  hat — these  symbols  of 
his  office  he  took  to  naturally  nor  ever  willingly 
changed  them.     He  looked  his  part.     Games  such  as 

225 


226  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

tennis,  golf,  baseball,  football,  be  neitber  played  nor 
took  deligbt  in.  Time  was  too  precious,  days  too 
sbort. 

So  wben  be  found  an  obscure  crossroads  town,  witb- 
out  otber  cburcb  or  minister,  bimself  being  tbe  pastor 
of  all,  be  was  satisfied.  Wben,  on  tbe  day  be  preacbed 
bis  first  sermon  tbere,  a  man  was  found  killed  in  front 
of  bis  cburcb,  tbe  place  suited  bim  tbat  mucb  better. 
Wben  be  saw  barrooms  flourisbing  and  gambling  tbe 
favourite  amusement,  be  was  satisfied  as  to  bis  call. 
Tbese  people  needed  a  preacber  and  tbat  was  bis 
business. 

So  be  set  to  work  with  prayer  and  consecrated  toil, 
and  a  revival  followed  as  already  described.  All  aflame 
as  be  was,  it  was  but  natural  for  tbe  neigbbourbood  to 
come  and  watcb  tbe  fire.  His  congregations  grew. 
His  cburcb  enlarged.  He  wanted  to  preacb  to  cbildren 
also  and  soon  be  was  superintendent  of  a  flourisbing 
Sunday  Scbool.  Tbe  people  liked  tbe  manner  of  it. 
Not  tbat  bis  college  words  or  city  accent  appealed  to 
tbem,  nor  bis  modesty  tbat  at  times  seemed  almost 
timidity,  but  tbey  bad  felt  tbe  tbrall  of  that  tbing 
wbicb  bas  made  every  orator  since  tbe  world  began — 
earnestness.  Tbis  boy  migbt  be  mistaken  but  be  was 
certainly  not  afraid  of  tbe  wildest  waves  of  Galilee. 
They  watched  bim  as  he  set  out,  hearing  a  voice  from 
afar  to  walk  on  tbe  waters.  It  was  with  small  steps 
tbat  he  first  began,  a  tiny  Sunday  Scbool,  tbe  first  in 
all  the  neigbbourbood,  a  collection  in  church  (that  took 
a  long  time  to  win  their  favour),  and  then  a  toy  print- 
ing press,  a  tiny  high  scbool,  and  a  little  home  for  a 
few  orphans.  As  these  things  grew  and  the  wonder  of 
them  accumulated,  men  were  prone  to  see  them  rather 


GIVING  UP  THE  CHURCH  227 

than  the  thing  that  made  them,  as  one  gazes  upon  the 
towering  eucalyptus,  forgetting  the  hidden  cambium. 
But  he  never  forgot.  He  knew  wherein  his  life  con- 
sisted. Did  he  come  to  forsaken  Clinton  ?  It  was  to 
preach.  Did  he  found  a  Sunday  School,  a  church,  a 
college,  a  paper,  an  orphana^ge  ?  It  also  was  to  preach. 
These  all  were  only  incidental  to  his  main  purpose 
which  was  to  deliver  a  message  from  the  King. 

And  his  throne  was  the  cheap  pine  pulpit  in  the 
plain  old  church.  For  forty-seven  years  he  reigned 
there,  and  for  six  more  among  his  orphans.  From  it 
he  interpreted  his  life,  and  all  lives,  but  oftenest  The 
Life.  From  it  he  breathed  such  a  benediction  as  one 
feels  when  he  is  conscious  of  the  presence  of  God. 

As  the  Sabbaths  passed  and  the  church,  and  the 
Sunday  School,  and  the  magazine,  and  the  college,  and 
the  orphanage  grew — so  with  them  also  grew  those 
who  listened  to  his  words.  In  spirit  they  grew,  and  in 
years.  The  young  passed  into  age,  and  the  aged  into 
eternity.  It  seemed  only  a  little  while  before  he  was 
marrying  the  little  children  whom  he  baptized  yester- 
day. And  one  day  the  first  flake  of  snow  fell  on  his 
head.  Another  followed  and  soon  his  hair  was  white. 
As  time  passed  the  voices  of  his  people  must  needs 
reach  him  as  though  muffled  by  an  ever  growing 
distance,  and  the  darkness  that  might  not  be  denied 
fell  upon  his  eyes.  He  remembered  his  strength  as  a 
dream  of  long  ago  and  knew  that  the  time  had  come 
for  him  to  lay  aside  his  scepter. 

So,  shortly  after  they  began  tearing  aw^ay  the  old 
church  where  he  had  reigned  for  forty  years,  he  offered 
his  resignation.  The  little  congregation  of  fifty  had 
now  grown  to  five  hundred  and,  though  they  knew 


228  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

everything  he  told  them  of  his  failing  strength  to  be 
true,  they  tenderly  refused  his  request.  That  was  in 
1907,  on  August  11th,  and  he  took  it  as  a  good  omen 
of  promise  that  he  might  yet  be  able  to  finish  out  his 
full  half-century  of  service  as  their  pastor.  For  two 
more  years  he  laboured  and  the  Power  kept  blessing 
his  work.  His  congregation  of  citizens,  college  boys, 
and  orphanage  children  had  passed  the  five  hundred 
mark  and  even  the  new  church  was  taxed  to  seat  them. 
More  and  more  it  had  become  evident  that  first  the 
Sunday  Schools  and  then  the  congregations  of  orphans 
and  townspeople  should  best  be  divided  for  their  mu- 
tual good. 

The  final  separation  he  describes :  "  This  day.  May 
11, 1909,  was  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Thorn  well 
Orphanage.  The  teachers  and  pupils  were  organized 
into  a  church.  The  services  were  held  on  Tuesday 
night.  Dr.  Law  presiding.  One  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  members  were  enrolled.  The  name  of  Thornwell 
Memorial  was  selected.  So  another  of  my  long  cher- 
ished plans  has  been  carried  out.  The  First  Church 
retains  three  hundred  members.  For  the  present  no 
change  will  be  made  in  the  hour  of  worship  until  our 
Sabbath  School  is  organized.  The  church  school  will 
be  fearfully  depleted  and  they  will  have  to  work.  It 
will  take  wisdom  now  to  guide  the  ship  aright." 

And  then  one  day,  August  10,  1909,  in  Washington, 
hearing  and  seeing  poorly,  he  was  struck  by  a  carriage, 
so  severe  a  blow  as  to  fracture  his  shoulder  and  render 
him  unconscious  and  helpless.  Kind  friends  carried 
him  to  the  hospital  and  soon  his  loved  ones  were  about 
him.  As  he  slowly  recovered  his  strength  he  found 
that  all  his  physical  resources  had  lessened.    Especially 


GIVING  UP  THE  CHUKCH  229^ 

was  his  deafness  increased.  The  accident  had  hap- 
pened m  the  forty.fifth  year  of  his  pastorate.  On  the 
preceding  May  28th  he  had  written : 

"Forty-five  years  ago,  this  day,  I  was  ordained  to 
the  gospel  ministry  and  made  pastor  over  the  three 
httle  churches  of  Clinton,  Shady  Grove,  and  Duncan's 
Creek,  seventy-three  souls  in  all !     The  churches  or- 
g^nized  out  of  the  Clinton  church  alone  are  Clinton 
iirst,  333  members;  Thorn  well  Memorial,  163-  Eock- 
bridge,  23;  Clinton  Second,  12;  and  Sloan's  Chapel 
(coloured),  about  25.     These  are  all  well  located  and 
eventually  will  grow.     I  propose  giving  five  more  years 
of  good  work  to  the  Clinton  First  Church,  if  God  will, 
before  I  lay  down  the  pastorate.     I  would  prefer  mak- 
ing the  change  now  to  the  Thornwell  Memorial,  but 
whatever  is  for  the  good  of  the  cause  I  will  obediently 

But  it  was  hard  to  say  good-bye.  Nor  was  it  within 
the  power  of  his  people  to  know  how  he  yearned  for 
the  privilege  of  continuing  to  be  their  pastor.  To  give 
up  his  pulpit  seemed  not  far  different  from  ffivine-  ud 
his  life.     To  leave  them  was  to  die.  ^       6    F 

Yet  knowing  that  the  time  had  come,  he  took  the 
next  step : 

"This  afternoon  I  am  to  be  installed  pastor  of  the 
Thornwell  Memorial  Church.  This  is  the  last  link  of 
the  Cham  devised  so  long  ago  by  me,  the  idea  being 
complete  separation  between  the  First  Church  and  the 
orphanage  with  a  view  to  loosing  me  from  the  pastorate 
of  the  former.  My  accident  in  Washington  has  hurried 
my  resignation,  showing  as  it  did  the  tenderness  of  the 
people  for  me.  But  I  am  now  so  sorely  afflicted  with 
deafness,   which  has  been  greatly  increased   by   the 


230  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

accident,  that  I  feel  incompetent  to  do  pastoral  work, 
and  unless  there  is  improvement  my  duty  to  resign  will 
be  so  clear  that  there  will  be  absolutely  no  alternative." 

And  so  the  throne  room  was  changed  but  it  was  still 
a  sceptered  kingdom  and  a  tireless  old  ruler  wielded 
his  power.     Within  a  month  he  was  writing : 

"  On  Sunday  I  conducted  the  morning  worship  at 
the  orphanage  assembly  room.  I  preached  at  11  a.  m. 
and  conducted  the  communion.  I  attended  both  Sab- 
bath Schools ;  I  moderated  three  meetings  of  sessions, 
received  ten  members,  and  conducted  the  baptism  serv- 
ice.    I  am  proud  of  m}^  day's  work." 

It  was  two  more  years  before  the  parting  came. 
Then,  like  some  Moses  who  was  going  apart  to  view 
from  higher  mount  the  Promised  Land  before  his 
translation  hour ;  like  some  Elijah  who,  all  knew,  was 
to  be  taken  from  them  that  day  in  fire  and  glory,  he 
prepared  to  say  good-bye. 

And  he  wrote  in  his  diary :  "  It  is  hard  to  say  good- 
bye." 

"  I  have  at  last,  led  I  trust  by  the  same  kind  hand 
that  has  guided  me  ever,  been  enabled  by  His  grace 
to  lay  down  the  pastorate  of  my  beloved  charge,  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Clinton.  The  session 
met.  I  told  them  my  physical  condition,  my  inability 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  pastorate,  and  handed 
them  my  resignation.  I  need  not  say  that  this  is  a 
bitter  trial.  I  have  loved  the  church  most  tenderly. 
I  have  given  it  my  soul.  But  I  realize  that  my  work- 
ing days  as  a  pastor  are  over  and  that  I  must  yield  to 
the  inevitable.  The  congregation  is  called  to  meet  and 
accept  it — two  weeks  from  to-day.  I  will  have  the 
rest  quickly  done  and  before  the  first  of  August  the 


GIVING  UP  THE  CHUKCH  231 

tie  will  be  severed.     Even  as  I  began  my  ministry  so  I 

end  It  here— with  J6$a  iv  v4naroi^  o^q>r 

With   this   royal  shout   of  joy  he   had   begun   his 

journal  of  work  in  Clinton  a  haif-century  before      It 

had  changed  but  slightly  in  all  those  years,  adding 

little  by  little  the  note  of  triumph. 

"As  I  think  of  my  poor  eyes  and  their  waning  sight 

my  hope  is  God.     I  feel  happy  that  I  have  had  the 

courage  to  give  up  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Church. 
I  am  happy  because  it  was  right  for  me  to  do  it,— and 
yet  what  regrets  come  to  me  as  I  think  of  the  long 
lifetime  of  service  ended.  It  means  to  me  as  nothing 
else  could,— the  coming  end.  A  few  more  years  and 
then  I  shall  know  even  as  also  I  am  known." 

It  is  well  to  go  into  his  heart  and  walk  up  and  down 
m  It  at  this  supreme  moment  of  his  life,  this  hour  of 
self-abnegation.  Conscious  as  ever  of  his  meaning  to 
the  world  we  may  still  see  that  realization  m  his  words 
as  he  writes : 

"  In  presenting  my  resignation  to  you  of  the  pastoral 
charge  I  have  had  in  my  hands  for  these  forty-seven 
years,  it  is  only  natural  that  I  should  do  so  with  great 
emotion.     When  I  came  to  you  forty-seven  years  ago, 
your    fathers    and    mothers    received  me  as  if  I  had 
been  their  own  son.     As  the  years  passed  by  I  was  still 
more  tenderly  connected  with  them,  by  uniting  them 
and  their  children  after  them  in  marriage,  by  laying  in 
the  grave  those  who  were  near  and  dear  to  you,  and  by 
receiving  into  the  kingdom  of  God  more  than  a  thou- 
sand souls.     But  even  a  long  life  must  end  its  course  at 
last ;  the  time  has  come  when  I  can  no  longer  serve 
you  efficiently,  and  when  I  must  ask  you  to  sever  the 
tie  that  I  had  hoped  would  only  be  broken  by  death. 


232  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

In  asking  you  to  unite  with  me  in  going  before  Presby- 
tery with  a  request  for  a  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  re- 
lation between  us,  I  am  not  influenced  solely  by  the 
pressure  of  other  work  now  resting  upon  me,  nor  by 
the  feeling  that  my  health  is  suffering  from  double 
labours,  but  rather  by  the  fact  that  no  matter  how  we 
think  of  it,  it  is  ever  impossible  for  one  man  to  do  two 
men's  work,  and  do  it  well.  For  several  years  past  I 
have  recognized  my  inability  faithfully  to  discharge  my 
pastoral  duties.  I  found  that  I  was  unable  though  not 
unwilling  to  do  all  the  work  that  ought  to  be  done, 
and  that  the  church  was  suffering  and  indeed  suffering 
severely  because  of  it.  Yery  much  against  my  wishes, 
but  driven  thereto  by  my  own  ideas  of  pastoral  re- 
sponsibility, I  have  been  compelled  to  take  this  step. 
I  could  bear  to  suffer  myself,  but  I  could  not  bear  to 
see  the  church  of  Christ  suffer.  In  giving  up  the  work 
among  you  I  am  giving  up  the  object  for  which  I  have 
lived  for  all  these  years." 

Then  the  congregation  looked  upon  their  dear  old 
preacher  and  knew  that  he  was  right,  though  every 
word  was  one  of  pain  that  he  had  written  them.  They 
thought  of  his  three  hundred  orphans  and  considered 
their  duty  to  them.  In  the  gentleness  of  love  they 
accepted  his  resignation  and  the  most  inspiring  village 
pastorate  in  the  history  of  America  was  ended. 

"  I  preached  my  farewell  sermon  to-day,"  he  wrote 
on  August  27,  1911,  "  Ephesians  3  :  14-19.  It  was  a 
very  hard  task  to  do.  I  then  walked  down  out  of  the 
pulpit  and  out  of  the  back  door.  No  one  on  earth 
knows  how  much  it  hurts,  and  yet  I  am  glad.  The 
long  expected  has  come  at  last.  So  comes  also  the  en- 
trance within  the  veil." 


GIVING  UP  THE  CHURCH  233 

But  there  was  One  who  walked  with  him.  He  also 
had  foreseen  this  hour,  He  who  never  forgets  nor  fails. 
He  knew  how  this  old  broken-down  servant  of  His  had 
toiled  for  Him  in  an  utter  abandon  of  unselfishness. 
He  had  watched  him  for  four  decades  as  he  refused  to 
take  a  salary  from  the  orphanage  depending  on  the 
little  ill-paid  remuneration  from  the  church  he  loved. 
He  had  looked  over  his  shoulder  one  day  and  watched 
him  write  these  words  in  his  diary  : 

"The  Board  voted  me  ;^100  per  month  salary  last 
June  to  begin  July  1st.  I  am  taking  this  and  placing 
it  to  the  president's  salary  and  pension  fund.  I  will 
place  the  interest  to  the  principal  till  it  reaches  ^10,000 
and  will  then  resign  the  church  and  retire  on  a  pen- 
sion !  which  will  be  the  interest  of  that  fund — amount- 
ing from  ;^50  to  $60  a  month  and  will  be  enough." 

And  then  during  his  illness  in  1902  : 

"Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  from  July  18th  to 
January  1st  I  did  no  pastoral  visiting,  I  find  to  my  sur- 
prise that  my  salary  is  paid  in  full  for  the  first  time 
(on  January  1st)  perhaps  for  twenty  years.  Well,  it 
encourages  me.  My  church  is  alwaj^s  faithful,  and 
financially  speaking  I  am  '  passing  rich '  on  ^150  a 
year." 

And  this  also  but  yesterday : 

"  I  am  back  home  improved  somewhat  in  symptoms, 
but  feeling  like  an  old  wreck,  yet  with  the  soul  within 
me  that  is  that  of  the  gay  bark,  all  sails  set,  and  skim- 
ming along  the  salt  sea.  In  truth  I  am  wanting  to  do 
all  things  and  yet  am  able  to  do  nothing." 

And  having  seen  all  this  He  had  acted. 

One  day  a  man  in  Atlanta,  John  Eagan  was  his 
name,  thinking,  by  whose  impulse  he  may  or  may  not 


234  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

have  known,  that  it  was  time  to  provide  an  endowment 
for  the  president's  chair  at  Thornwell,  wrote  as  much 
to  the  president  and  offered  ;$5,000  on  condition  that 
the  remainder  necessary  be  given  by  the  end  of  that 
ye3ii\  Then  the  good  true  friend  whose  heart  He  had 
so  often  touched,  Mrs.  Nettie  F.  McCormick  of  Chicago, 
added  the  necessary  ^20,000,  conditioning  her  gift  upon 
the  interest  of  the  sum  going  to  Wm.  Plumer  Jacobs 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life  and  thereafter  to  the 
Thornwell  Orphanage. 

And  so  it  turned  out  that  God  had  kept  it  all  for  him, 
adding  interest  to  principal,  because  he  trusted  in  Him. 

"  I  have  found  out " — so  he  had  written  years  before 
— "  that  if  I  work  for  God,  He  will  take  care  of  me  !  " 


XXII 
THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH 

Gone  the  past  days,  come  the  last  days, 

Come  the  Autumn  days  once  more. 
Short  the  light  time,  long  the  night  time, 

On  the  lake  we  floated  o'er  ; 
But  the  face-dreams,  all  the  grace-dreams 

Light  us  to  the  other  shore. 

THERE  is  a  beautiful  chorus  in  the  Bacchae  of 
Euripides,  translated  by  Gilbert  Murray, 
which  runs  : 


^' Happy  he,  on  the  weary  sea 

Who  hath  fled  the  tempest  and  won  the  haven ; 
Happy  whoso  hath  risen  free 
Above  his  striving,  for  strangely  graven 

Is  the  orb  of  life,  so  that  one  and  another 
In  power  and  wealth  doth  outpass  his  brother ; 

And  men  in  their  millions  float  and  flow, 
And  seethe  with  a  million  hopes  as  leaven. 
And  they  win  their  Will  or  they  miss  their  Will, 
And  the  hopes  are  dead  or  are  pined  for  still  j 
But  whoso  doth  know. 
As  the  long  days  go, 
That  to  live  is  joy,  hath  found  his  heaven.^^ 

It  is  this  joy  of  living  that  we  find  in  all  great  souls 
which  constitutes  their  highest  ecstasy  and  their  deepest 
woe ;  for  as  on  the  one  hand  it  fills  the  dullest  moment 
with  interest,  on  the  other  it  accentuates  the  sensitive- 
ness of  the  soul  gazing  upon  the  inevitable  end.     Who 

235 


236  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

that  has  lived  long  on  earth  has  not  felt  the  force  of 
those  silent  walls  inimitably  described  by  Poe  as  they, 
so  quietlj^  and  surely,  draw  together  until  their  victim 
is  crushed.  For  death  begins  to  come  long  before  old 
age.  At  the  topmost  point  of  the  speeding  bullet's  arc 
the  descent  begins.  At  the  hottest  point  of  its  cosmic 
fire  the  sun  commences  to  cool.  At  the  very  moment 
when  a  man  is  strongest  and  most  virile  he  begins  to 
die. 

And  as  the  quality  of  matter  may  be  determined  by 
the  way  it  takes  fire  so  may  the  souls  of  men  be  de- 
scribed by  the  way  they  take  death.  Some  dully,  as 
an  ox  that  is  slaughtered ;  some  bitterly,  as  if  abused 
by  a  friend  ;  some  afraid  with  a  terror  unspeakable  as 
if  it  were  an  unnameable  horror ;  and  some  face  it  as  a 
noble  antagonist  with  whom  each  step  is  to  be  disputed, 
an  enemy  indeed  but  a  teacher  withal. 

Of  such  a  sort  was  Wm.  P.  Jacobs. 

Perhaps  the  highest  point  of  happiness  in  his  life 
came  in  his  thirty-seventh  year.  His  church  was 
steadily  getting  on  her  feet ;  his  orphanage  was  happily 
though  anxiously  founded;  his  magazine  was  at  last 
safe ;  his  high  school  was  secure ;  his  health  was  at  the 
best  it  ever  attained  ;  his  heart  was  brave  and  strong ; 
beautiful  dreams  were  in  his  soul  and  around  him  in 
a  Christian  home  his  wife  and  children  were  gathered. 

Then,  on  January  16,  1879,  there  came  the  first 
great  catastrophe  and  with  Theseus  over  Phaedra  he 
mourned : 

''  My  children  motherless  and  my  home  undone, 
Since  thou  art  vanished  quite  ; 
Purest  of  hearts  that  e'er  the  wandoring  sun 
Touched,  or  the  star-eyed  splendour  of  the  night.  '^ 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  237 

He  was  just  about  half  through  his  life  when  half  of 
his  life  went  away.  Thenceforth  the  Great  Sadness 
settled  upon  him.  Very  little  did  he  say  about  it  but 
very  much  did  he  grieve,  and  in  his  journal  no  anni- 
versary of  that  dark  date  came  without  a  line  in 
memory  of  her  love  and  in  hope  of  the  ultimate  re- 
union. 

From  that  day,  though  they  came  slowly  yet  very 
surely,  the  enemy  forces  gathered  about  the  citadel  of 
his  strength  and  his  life  was  in  a  state  of  siege.  The 
first  point  of  definite  attack  was  his  voice  which  nearly 
failed  him  for  many  months  completely  and  at  intervals 
thereafter  until  the  end.  His  general  health  was  never 
good.  Even  from  his  boyhood  he  was  often  sick.  As 
a  lad  at  college  his  eyes  kept  paining  him  and  his  deaf- 
ness was  at  its  incipient  stage.  Physically  he  was  very 
poorly  equipped  from  the  beginning  and  he  knew  it 
but  was  resolved  to  make  every  year  count. 

In  the  closing  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  two 
other  blows  feU  heavily :  the  death  of  his  father  of 
which  we  have  already  read  and  that  of  his  "  mother  " 
which  came  in  1899.     Of  this  last  he  writes  : 

"I  have  been  away  in  Nashville  to  see  my  poor  old 
dymg  mother— at  least  ray  mother  for  these  forty-two 
years.  She  died  on  the  17th  of  June  and  is  to  be 
buried  to-day  in  this  town  of  Clinton. 

"So  ends  a  long,  lovely,  useful  life.  Dear  old 
Mother,  how  much  you  loved  me  !  I  was  not  your  own 
child  but  you  never  seemed  to  know  the  difference. 
You  are  in  the  presence  now  of  the  King  of  Glory  and 
of  all  you  love.  We  shall  meet  again.  Mother,  in  the 
best  of  all  countries.     Till  then,  farewell." 

As  the  century  ended  he  seemed  to  realize  that  the 


238  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

new  lustrum  was  to  be  for  him  one  of  a  losing  fight 
with  death.  "  I  v/ant  to  live  a  little  while  in  this  won- 
derful twentieth  century  of  which  I  have  heard  so 
much,"  he  exclaimed,  and  then  more  soberly : 

"  The  new  day, 
The  new  year. 
The  new  century. 

"  The  first  word  I  uttered  in  public  service  this  year 
was  Jesus.  May  that  word  be  the  guiding  thought  of 
this  year  for  me. 

"  At  midnight  I  prayed  God  for  His  presence  and 
the  gift  of  eternal  life.  At  cock-crow  and  at  daybreak 
I  prayed  for  the  same. 

"  I  am  living  in  a  new  age.  Since  last  night  I  seem 
to  have  closed  up  the  lids  of  a  mighty  volume.  I  am 
saying  farewell  to  the  years  gone.  This  is  year  one 
of  the  twentieth  century." 

And  in  that  new  century  the  same  strange  com- 
pulsion of  God  was  upon  him.  The  Presence  kept 
urging  him  on  and  on  and  on,  even  in  old  age,  to  new 
fields  of  endeavour. 

"  That  is  the  reason  I  keep  working  and  planning," 
he  testifies.  "  God  is  with  me  and  for  His  sake  and 
because  of  His  presence  I  shall  work  for  them  till  I 
die.  I  have  a  feverish  desire  to  do  much,  very  much. 
Humbly  trusting  Him,  I  shall  press  on,  and  on,  and 
on.  My  craving  is  for  eternal  life !  I  do  not  know 
how  it  is  to  come.  I  have  no  proof  but  the  divine 
word  and  the  divine  presence  that  I  shall  live  again. 
But  I  hang  my  life  on  that  hook.  It  bears  me  up.  It 
is  strong." 

From  now  on  we  see  a  terrific  struggle.     Death, — 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  239 

slow,  creeping,  remorseless  death,  the  kind  of  a  death 
that  will  not  hurry,  that  cannot  be  made  to  hurry,  kept 
nagging  him,  browbeating  him,  tantalizing  him,  threat- 
ening him,  choking  him,  taking  away  from  him  first 
this  means  of  consciousness  and  then  that ;  sapping  his 
vitality,  destroying  his  senses,  as  if  Some  One  intended 
to  test  the  quality  of  that  man  to  see  whether  he  was 
indeed  the  sort  He  had  intended  to  make  him. 
And  of  all  this  His  subject  was  fully  conscious : 
"  The  years  are  going  by  and  I  am  growing  older. 
Often  the  longing  comes  into  my  heart  to  live  life  over 
again.  The  days  have  swept  by  me,  till  now  even  my 
children  are  bended  and  their  brows  are  furrowed.  I 
am  nearing  my  sixtieth  birthday.  For  years  the  same 
catarrhal  trouble  that  made  me  deaf  in  one  ear  has  raged 
incessantly  with  its  ringing  bells  and  beating  drums. 
Through  my  head  admonitions  are  plentiful  that  my 
youth  is  gone,  my  vigorous  manhood  well  spent,  and 
the  day  of  the  ascension  not  far  away.  But  oh,  how 
busy  I  am !  Two  hundred  children  call  me  Father  and 
look  to  me  for  guidance.  I  need  strength  from  the 
source  of  all  strength,  and  indeed  He  will  not  fail  me." 
There  are  men  whose  lives  are  valuable  out  of  all 
proportion  to  anything  they  may  have  said  or  written 
or  done.  In  a  world  where  "  conduct  is  three-fourths 
of  life  "  the  quality  of  the  living  is  paramount.  Neither 
Providence,  which  is  the  will  of  God,  nor  purpose, 
which  is  the  will  of  man,  permits  many  lives  to  excel 
all  others.  Once  perhaps  in  a  generation  these  com- 
bine to  create  a  situation  where  the  common  light  of 
day  is  eclipsed  and  the  corona  of  a  vast  sun-life  may 
be  studied.  It  may  be  noted  that  in  each  case  it  is 
darkness  that  does  it. 


240  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Indeed  the  deeper  the  gloom  of  the  overhanging 
shadow,  the  livelier  became  the  interest  of  the  man 
within  in  the  source  and  meaning  of  that  blackness. 
The  less  he  had  left  the  more  he  had  given. 

*'  I  never  lie  down  to  rest  now  but  that  two  thoughts 
come  to  me  with  great  power,"  he  tells  us.  "  One  is 
the  shortening  years  that  I  must  spend  on  earth.  The 
other  is  an  intense  longing  while  I  am  here  to  break 
through  the  wall  that  stands  between  this  world  and 
the  next.  There  surely  is  an  indubitable  way,  some- 
where, some  means  by  which  the  soul  and  its  creator 
may  deal  with  each  other.  If  the  ether  bears  a  wire- 
less message  across  the  ocean  so  that  the  two  who  con- 
verse, though  invisible,  are  yet  really  in  touch,  there 
should  be,  there  must  be  an  equally  palpable  though  as 
yet  undiscovered  avenue  of  approach  to  God.  Perhaps 
at  present  a  charged  wire  would  not  be  more  deadly  to 
the  body  than  would  a  breaking  away  of  the  wall  of 
partition  to  the  soul.  But  that  such  a  way  will  yet  be 
safely  opened  to  the  children  of  men,  I  doubt  not.  Till 
that  way  is  made  manifest  what  folly  to  seek,  as  some 
do,  to  communicate  with  departed  spirits.  We  surely 
could  find  out  God  before  we  find  these  frail  things 
called  men.     "  Oh  !  to  know  God,  to  know  God  !  " 

So  that  was  what  this  struggle  with  death  was 
bringing  him !  Then  surely  it  was  not  wholly  a 
robber. 

It  is  a  holy  hour  when  we  are  privileged  to  look  into 
the  inner  deeps  of  the  soul  of  a  great  and  true  man 
searching  for  the  light  in  the  final  darkness.  To  live 
is  a  thing  so  infinitely  beautiful  that  there  is  nothing  a 
man  would  take  in  exchange  for  it.     Yet  he  says : 

"  I  am  not  asking  for  long  life.     He  knows  I  want  it 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  241 

for  His  sake  and  for  the  furtherance  of  the  good  things 
for  which  He  has  bidden  me  work.  But  that  is  for  Him 
to  decide.  JS'o  part  of  my  unconditioned  prayer  is  a 
plea  for  length  of  days.  I  leave  that  with  sincerest 
joy  in  His  hands.  I  am  sure  He  will  give  it  to  me  if  it 
is  for  the  best." 

Dr.  W.  C.  Gray,  long  time  editor  of  the  Continent^ 
wrote  once  that  the  first  sensation  of  a  man  who  dis- 
covered that  he  had  grown  old  was  a  shock  of  sur- 
prise. So  when  the  sixtieth  birthday  of  our  subject 
came  he  tells  his  journal ; 

"  My  plans  are  as  though  I  were  to  live  a  hundred 
years.  My  preparations  are  as  though  I  had  reached 
the  last  year  of  my  life.  The  spirit  of  immortal  youth 
is  as  strong  in  me  as  ever.  It  seems  impossible  that  I 
should  die.  I  look  with  amazement  at  myself  in  the 
glass  and  I  wonder  if  it  be  truly  I,  this  image  of  an  old 
fellow  that  I  see  there !  Sometimes  I  think  that  this 
sentiment  is  born  of  the  conviction  that  I  shall  never 
die — that  even  now  I  am  living  in  eternity — the  God  of 
life  dwelling  in  me.  So  my  sixtieth  birthday  shall  be 
as  was  my  fiftieth,  my  fortieth,  my  thirtieth — a  look- 
ing steadily  forward.  I  have  no  time  to  look  back. 
There  is  work,  a  great  amount  of  it  ahead." 

So  the  years  passed  and  each  day  grew  darker,  each 
voice  softer  and  lower  until  one  day  : 

"I  left  Macon  for  Atlanta   at  4  a.  m.     Met    Dr. 

C in  his  office  at  eleven  o'clock.     V^ery  kindly  and 

gently  he  told  me  that  the  trouble  with  my  eye  was 
cataract  and  that  I  was  doomed  to  blindness  or  a  severe 
operation  in  that  eye.  He  urged  me  '  just  to  bear  it 
patiently  and  not  have  an  operation,  depending  on  the 
other  eye  for  service.'     I  trust  in  God.     I  have  no 


242  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

doubt  but  that  the  touch  of  the  Master's  hand  can  cure 
me,  as  it  did  many  another  in  his  time,  so  I  am  to  en- 
dure blindness  in  one  eye  and  deafness  in  one  ear  and 
the  eye  and  ear  infinitely  valuable  even  if  not  much  ac- 
count. I  am  intending  to  put  my  physical  foes  in  my 
Lord's  hands.  I  shall  fight  them  to  the  bitter  end. 
Lord,  be  my  portion.  Thou  art  my  helper  and  I  trust 
in  Thee." 

So  he  closed  the  year  as  he  himself  described  it  with 
one  eye  and  half  an  ear — but  then  they  were  enough. 
Thus,  failing,  he  deepened  the  meaning  of  his  life  to  all. 

In  1908  his  sixty-sixth  birthday  came.  Having 
burnt  his  candle  fiercely  and  it  being  a  shorter  candle 
than  most  he  was  already  over  seventy.  As  he  takes 
stock  of  his  days  he  writes  : 

"  This  is  my  sixty -sixth  birthday.  It  makes  me  very 
serious  when  I  think  of  how  swiftly  I  approach  the 
time  of  old  age.  I  do  not  fear  death.  My  certain 
trust  is  in  the  unfailing  right  hand  of  my  dear  Lord. 
I  do  not  know  about  the  eternal  life  but  I  believe !  and 
to  my  Lord  Jesus  be  the  glory. 

"I  am  not,  however,  planning  or  preparing  for 
death.  Per  contra,  for  a  vigorous,  active,  useful  life.  I 
shall  fight  clean  down  to  the  end  against  every  physical 
ailment  and  shall  scheme  that  every  day  shall  be  one 
of  vigour  and  activity.  I  just  decline  to  be  anything 
else  than  a  blessing  to  the  world.  It  is  very  true  that 
I  must  lay  aside  some  of  the  work.  I  do,  but  it  shall 
be  mine  to  see  that  others  who  take  it  up  move  off  on 
right  lines  and  do  it  better  than  I." 

All  his  lifetime,  he  said  once,  he  had  been  pressed 
by  the  thought  that  this  life  is  for  work  and  eternity 
for  rest.     And  even  Riverside,  with  its  summer  vaca- 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  243 

tion  quiet,  worried  him  a  little  unless  pencil  and  paper 
were  near  at  hand  and  messengers  constantly  going 
back  and  forth  from  Clinton.  His  vacations  were  only 
variations  of  work. 

There  was  something  singularly  prophetic  in  the 
lines  he  wrote  on  the  morrow  of  his  next  birthday,  for 
they  were  penned  just  seven  years  before  his  last  on 
earth,  his  year  of  darkness  : 

''  I  have  just  received  *  Eobert  Hardy's  Seven  Days ' 
— only  seven  days  to  live.  I  am  now  asking—-*  What 
shall  I  do  effectively  for  the  Lord  in  the  next  seven 
years  f  To-morrow  is  my  sixty-seventh  birthday.  I 
have  been  wanting  to  be  an  active  pastor  in  my  dear 
church  until  my  fiftieth  pastoral  year  ends— May  28, 
1914.     Five  years  more." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  intimate  a  relationship 
his  spiritual  life  and  blessings  had  with  his  physical 
health.  Because  of  the  one  he  was  constantly  en- 
couraged as  to  the  other.  Because  God  was  with  him 
he  felt  new  vitality  and  power : 

"  I  am  altogether  unwilling  to  believe  that  I  am  old 
or  that  there  is  to  be  any  termination  to  my  usefulness 
and  so  I  am  pressing  right  on  to  larger  endeavour.  I 
have  carried  out  so  m.any  of  my  proposals  that  I  have 
gotten  firmly  persuaded  with  David — '  The  Lord  is  on 
ray  side  ! '  and  in  His  strength  I  shall  go  on  to  four- 
score years  and  ten,  which  would  give  me  a  lifetime 
still  before  me." 

But  this  did  not  suit  his  antagonist.  There  must  be 
some  new  stroke  different  from  the  slow  failing  of  eyes, 
and  ears,  and  vital  organs,  for  it  was  quite  evident  that 
if  these  were  his  only  weapons  the  battle  would  be  too 
long.     Came  the  accident  at  Washington  and  since  the 


244  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

office  of  this  chapter  is  to  uncover  a  wonderful  soul 
fighting  a  marvellous  battle  with  the  arch-enemy  of  all 
mankind,  we  ask  him  to  tell  it  in  his  own  words. 

"  Just  four  weeks  ago  this  day  I  was  knocked  down 
in  the  street,  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Washington,  and 
run  over  by  a  surrey  with  four  people  in  it.  With  a 
broken  shoulder,  lacerated  side,  a  bleeding  throat  and 
a  dozen  minor  wounds,  lying  on  the  pavement  of  a 
strange  city  one  would  look  for  no  comfort,  yet  com- 
fort there  was.  Strangers  summoned  the  ambulance 
and  got  me  to  the  emergency  hospital  in  an  unconscious 
condition.  Then  I  spent  two  wretched  days  and  nights, 
and  one  morning  on  opening  my  eyes  I  found  Dillard 
standing  by  my  side.  It  w^as  as  though  I  had  seen  an 
angel  from  heaven.  His  practical  eye  soon  saw  my 
needs  and  got  me  into  fine  shape  and  into  a  private 
room  and  gave  me  perfect  attendance.  Nurses,  order- 
lies, doctors,  all  made  the  days  and  nights  more  com- 
fortable. I  spent  eight  days  in  the  hospital  and  was 
then  brought  home.  Florence  and  MoUie  had  reached 
Washington  the  next  day  after  Dillard  and  oh !  how 
sweet  their  ministrations  were.  Nobody  ever  had 
better  children  than  God  has  given  me.  They  brought 
me  safe  home,  home !  home  !  Day  by  day,  with  lov- 
ing care  far  beyond  my  dreams,  my  dear  children  and 
the  noble  people  of  Clinton  have  watched  over  me, 
nursed  me,  fed  me,  ministered  to  me,  sent  me  loving 
messages.  My  children  from  far  and  near  and  friends 
I  never  heard  of  have  sent  the  tenderest  of  messages. 
I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  my  dear  brothers  and 
sisters  Henry  and  Mamie  Sperry,  Charles  and  Bessie 
Little  and  all  their  children.  So  I  have  been  brought 
to  this  day  with  an  arm  fast  bound  to  my  side,  and  am 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  245 

sitting  on  my  front  piazza  in  the  early  morning  for  the 
first  time.  I  will  go  over  to  morning  prayers.  I  want 
to  go  over  to  Florence's  for  dinner.  I  feel  the  thrill  of 
returning  health.  Thank  God,  I  have  not  murmured 
nor  complained.  The  dear  Lord  has  been  with  me. 
With  more  pain  than  in  all  my  lifetime  before,  I  have 
yet  felt  how  good  and  merciful  He  is.  It  was  worth  it 
all  to  have  such  showers  of  blessings.  My  broken  collar 
bone  still  pains  me  and  I  write  with  difficulty,  but  I  am 
getting  to  my  work  again. 

"On  Sunday  last  I  went  down  to  the  Thornweli 
Memorial  to  be  present  at  the  organization  of  the  or- 
phanage Sabbath  School.  Our  First  Church  Sabbath 
School  was  also  organized  on  the  same  day.  The  com- 
bined schools  made  a  showing  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
pupils— the  largest  ever." 

From  all  which  it  would  appear  that  death  could  get 
very  poor  comfort  from  his  feat.  "  I  am  not  well,"  he 
exclaims,  "  but  I  am  glad  of  heart.  My  life  has  been 
ever  under  divine  protection.  Oh,  it  is  a  great  thing 
to  know  God  and  I  know  Him  !  " 

So  there  must  needs  be  another  stroke.  The  other 
eye  must  go. 

"  I  have  just  seen  Dr.  Parker,"  he  writes  in  Charles- 
ton in  March,  1911,  "  and  he  has  sentenced  me.  The 
trouble  in  my  eye,  as  in  the  other,  is  cataract.  Well, 
God's  will  be  done.  And  yet  I  pray  Him  to  do  the 
best  thing  for  me.  He  knows  what  it  is.  After  a 
while  my  sight  possibly  may  be  restored  by  an  opera- 
tion. In  the  meantime  I  will  give  much  time  to  God's 
word— until  I  can  read  no  more.  I  will  preach  as 
never  before  and  I  will  trust  myself  wholly  into  the 
hands  of  the  dear  Lord.     It  will  be  a  year  at  least  be- 


246  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

fore  I  can  have  the  operation.  It  comforts  me  to  think 
that  some  good  and  skilled  physician,  even  such  a  one 
as  the  dear  Lord  Himself,  may  yet  help  me  by  his 
wonderful  skill.  In  God  will  I  trust.  To  Him  be 
praise." 

"  There  is  really  no  reason  why  I  should  get  ready 
to  die  yet.  Though  as  to  that,  I  do  not  need  to  get 
ready.     I  have  been  ready  for  forty  years  past." 

Now  we  watch  him,  old,  sick,  blind,  deaf  and  wonder 
if  he  is  discouraged  by  pain  and  weakness.  What  good 
can  religion  do  such  a  man  ?    He  answers : 

"  Threatened  as  I  am  with  loss  of  sight  and  hearing, 
and  without  teeth  with  which  properly  to  masticate  my 
food,  and  that  too  at  the  threshhold  of  my  seventy -first 
year,  when  most  men  lay  their  burdens  down,  it  would 
seem  as  if  I  should  be  ready  to  turn  over  my  tasks  to 
younger  hands.  And  yet  at  all  these  calamities  I  laugh. 
This  soul  of  mine  is  just  about  as  young  as  ever  ;  nor 
can  it  understand  what  has  happened  to  its  poor 
encasement  that  it  wabbles  so,  and  does  such  poor 
service." 

So  far  there  doesn't  seem  to  be  much  of  a  sting  about 
death.  Even  the  total  darkness  of  the  blind  could  only 
bring  him  the  dread  of  not  being  able  to  work  : 

"  How  beautiful  the  world  is  and  how  happy  I  am 
that  I  am  alive  and  am  still  able  to  work.  I  dread  the 
days  of  darkness,  when  I  can  no  longer  work,  but  am 
hoping  for  those  good  times  when,  with  all  my  loved 
ones,  I  will  be  forever  happy  and  forever  young. 

"  I  wonder  if  any  living  man  is  as  happy  in  his  work 
as  I  am.  I  dearly  love  it.  I  thank  God  dearly  for 
having  permitted  me  to  do  what  I  have  done  as  His 
steward  and  His  ambassador.     My  life  is  now  in  the 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  247 

late  evening  but  I  am  as  happy  as  a  boy  in  the  recall 
of  the  joys  of  yesterday." 

In  March,  1915,  he  was  seventy-three  years  of  age 
as  years  are  measured  but  a  decade  older  in  decreasing 
activity.  The  intensity  of  the  struggle  had  grown  but 
he  had  reasons  of  his  own  for  wishing  to  reach  a 
greater  age. 

"  For  my  children's  sake  I  want  to  pass  my  eightieth 
year.  It  will  encourage  my  children.  They  will  see 
that  life  is  possible  even  with  a  very  poor,  infirm  body, 
and  that  life  is  worth  while  in  old  age.  My  friends 
sent  me  in  many  flowers  and  sweets.  I  am  very  glad 
that  the  flowers  came.  They  are  appropriate  to  my 
spring-time  birthday." 

The  very  next  month  he  noted  the  end  of  a  good 
servant  that  had  for  many  years  helped  him  in  all  his 
laborious  tasks. 

"  I  have  had  a  sad  heart  all  day,  all  because  I  have 
parted  with  a  dear  old  friend.  All  the  light  in  my  left 
eye  has  faded  out,— the  one  covered  with  a  cataract. 
But,  thank  God,  I  can  still  see  with  my  right  eye.  I 
can  still  use  it  for  reading,  and  that  is  a  great  and  won- 
derful comfort.  How  long  it  will  last  me  and  whether 
the  other  can  be  given  back  to  me  fills  me  with  anxiety, 
but  I  will  wait  for  God's  time,  fully  assured  that  when 
He  has  shut  me  off  from  hope  and  happiness  here  He 
will  give  me  a  great  and  wide  door  into  His  kingdom. 
But  to-day  brought  me  pleasure  too.  I  preached  well, 
with  a  good  clear,  strong  voice,  two  good  sermons.  I 
received  three  members  into  the  church,  so  beginning 
the  year  well.     O  Lord,  help  Thou  me." 

So,  when  one  of  his  sons  published  a  volume  of 
poems  he  selected  this  as  the  one  he  felt 


248  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

Five  little  panes  of  dusty  glass, 
And  an  unmeasured  universe  await ! 
Yet,  beautiful,  O  ye  lovely  forms  I  see. 
And  passing  sweet,  O  luscious  fruits  I  taste, 
And  charmed  voices,  rapturing  words  I  hear, 
And  odours  winged   with  Heaven's  breaths   I 

smell, 
And  touch  !     O  God,  what  wondrous  things  are 

these  I  touch  ? 
Five  little  panes  of  dusty  glass  j 

0  mist,  O  mystery ! 

And  brief  the  time,  ah  me,  so  short  the  time, 
To  taste,  to  smell,  to  touch,  to  hear,  to  look 
Through  such  confused,  dusty,  dazed  ways. 
So  long  a  while  between  the  moments  when, 
One  (a  Shadow  dimly  seen  and  heard) 
Doth  wipe  away  the  smudges  from  the  panes. 

So  many  half-lit  worlds  to  see. 

So  many  muffled  voices  hear, 

Such  countless  forms  of  things  to  feel, 

Such  breaths,  breast- warmed  of  Heaven's  draught, 

Such  untried  sweets  to  taste  of,  but  — 

Only  a  momentary  glance, 

Through  five  tiny,  smeared  panes  of  glass ! 

Yet,  O  so  beautiful  ! 

The  odour  of  them  is  a  universe  ! 

So  fair  their  favours,  so  entrancing  sweet  they 

seem, 
So  pleasing  is  their  voice,  so  good  the  touch  of 

all  — 

1  crave  one  pane  the  more, 
One  crystal  pane — and  then  — 
O  worlds,  O  Infinite,  O  God  ! 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  249 

Silence  and  darkness — the  two  beautiful  senses  going 
slowly  I  Each  year,  fewer  words  and  lower ;  each  day, 
a  lesser  light.  And  the  books,  the  time  had  come  to 
tell  them  farewell,  these  lifelong  companions  so  silent 
but  with  such  compelling  voices.  Of  them  he  writes : 
"I  have  in  my  library  some  three  thousand  books. 
These  have  become  in  part  a  history  of  myself.  I  have 
lived  in  the  books  and  they  have  been  absorbed  in  me. 
For  the  most  part  they  are  good  and  useful  books,  and 
I  am  desirous  that  in  some  suitable  way  they  should  be 
kept  together  and  made  a  monument  to  ray  memory. 
Old  dry  books  are  a  very  suitable  memorial  of  an  old, 
dried  up  man.  I  want  my  children  to  see  to  this. 
There  are  quite  a  number  that  are  valuable.  There  is 
the  only  complete  set  of  Our  Monthly  in  existence. 
My  shorthand  library  is  perhaps  the  best  in  the  South. 
I  have  coftiplete  files  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly 
and  of  Enoree  Presbytery.  I  have  a  complete  set  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Hemew.  My  theological  library 
contains  the  ancient  orthodox  views.  I  have  about 
twenty  volumes  of  my  own  mother's  and  five  hundred 
to  six  hundred  of  my  father's,  some  books  from 
Dr.  Thorn  well's  library.  On  the  whole  the  collection 
is  unique  and  it  ought  not  to  be  scattered.  A  hundred 
years  hence  it  would  be  an  object  lesson.  My  hope  is 
that  the  Thorn  well  Orphanage  may  have  a  great  library 
building  some  day,  and  that  one  room  may  he  set  apart 
as  a  Meinorial  Room  of  the  founder  of  the  orphanage 
and  that  my  hoohs  may  he  a  part  of  the  furnishing  of 
that  room.  This  is  only  a  little  of  my  folly,  but  even 
wise  men  are  foolish  at  times." 

That  was  a  sad,  sad  day  on  which  he  knew  that  he 
had  read  his  last  line.     JSTor  could  another  interpret 


250  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

their  message  through  ears  that  could  not  hear.  He 
whom  God  had  loved  so  well  and  to  whom  so  many 
favours  had  been  shown  was  now  exalted  above  most 
of  the  favoured  few  in  that  he  was  chosen  to  show 
forth  the  marvellous  spirit  of  man  battling  with  death 
and  losing  by  slow  degrees,  yet  all  the  while  happily 
teaching  in  the  dim  light  of  the  gloaming,  listening  in 
the  ever  deepening  silence  for  God.  And  for  her  also 
— "  Just  fifty  years  ago  this  day,"  he  wrote  on  April 
20,  1915,  "  I  was  married  to  Mary  Jane  Dillard  !  Oh, 
how  I  loved  her  !  And  now  the  years  that  have  passed, 
filled  as  they  have  been  with  struggles  and  successes, 
almost  terrify  me.  I  look  forward  but  the  sun  is  riding 
low  and  the  horizon  is  full  of  dust.  Yet  beyond  the 
sun  is  the  welcome  into  a  fairer  day  and  the  return  to 
love  and  trust  immeasurable." 

From  that  hour  it  had  been  a  lonely  fight.  His 
children  growing  up  left  him  with  only  his  orphans. 
Though  son  and  daughter  lived  in  Clinton  and  repeat- 
edly offered  him  their  homes  he  would  not  have  it  so. 
It  was  as  if  he  accepted  the  challenge  of  death  and 
would  fight  it  out,  man  to  man,  until  the  end.  In  such 
a  state  he  could  only  spend  most  of  his  time  lifting  up 
his  prayer  for  the  presence  and  blessing  of  God.  It 
seemed  to  take  the  place  of  a  mass  of  work.  He  kept 
planning  and  building,  saying,  ^'  Ambitious  projects  in 
an  old  man  may  not  seem  wise  but  he  who  lives  in 
eternity  never  grows  old."  Even  poor  receipts  for  his 
orphans  could  not  terrify  him.  "  I  am  sending  for  six 
more  little  children,"  he  says.  "  I  always  do  this  when 
supplies  run  short."  In  1913  he  became  practically 
stone  deaf,  and  in  1916,  as  the  light  grew  dimmer  and 
dimmer,  his  writing  in  his  diary  became  more  and  more 


O 

O 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  DEATH  251 

irregular  until,  in  a  hand  that  disclosed  his  inability  to 
see  the  lines  of  the  page,  he  wrote,  on  November 
14,  1916,  the  last  entry  in  his  own  handwriting: 
"  Nearly  blind,  I  go  to  Dalton  on  Friday  to  the  Synod 
of  Georgia." 

And  there,  to  a  Synod  that,  having  adjourned,  waited 
to  hear  his  last  message  until  his  belated  train  came,  he 
committed  his  orphans,  and  though  he  could  not  see 
their  tears  nor  hear  their  prayers  for  him  and  them,  he 
knew  that  all  would  be  well. 

Back  to  Atlanta  he  went,  happy  in  the  hope  that  the 
operation  on  his  eye  would  restore  his  sight.  The 
operation  was  performed  on  the  twenty-first  but  it  was 
not  successful.  The  darkness  deepened.  The  great 
hope  vanished.     He  was  blind. 

But  unconquered.  As  soon  as  his  health  permitted, 
he  left  Atlanta  and  went  busily  at  work  again.  He 
wanted  to  preach,  for  the  time  might  be  short.  He  had 
a  book  to  write.  The  investments  of  the  orphanage 
must  all  be  looked  after.  New  concrete  sidewalks 
must  be  built, — oh,  there  were  so  many  things  to  be 
done  and  so  short  a  while  to  do  them  in  !  And  besides 
if  he  was  to  die  it  must  be  at  work,  not  while  being 
nursed  even  by  his  children,  in  a  far-off  city. 

So  to  work  he  went — back  to  preaching  and  to 
editing,  to  the  holding  of  meetings  of  the  session,  to 
his  orphans'  Sunday  School  and  to  writing  his  book  on 
immortality.  When  spring  came  he  went  up  to  his  last 
Presbytery,  his  church  of  the  orphans  reporting  three 
hundred  and  thirty-six  on  the  roll,  the  largest  in  the 
county  and  one  of  the  largest  in  the  Presbytery. 

When  commencement  days  came  in  June  the  receipts 
for  the  year  showed  ;^70,000,  the  largest  in  the  history 


252  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

of  the  orphanage  and  the  endowment  fund  had  almost 
reached  ;^200,000.  The  same  month  he  made  a  trip  to 
Beaufort  and  a  severe  cold  settled  on  his  lungs.  In 
August  he  went  over  on  a  little  outing,  his  last  trip  to 
visit  his  children  in  Atlanta.  Then  he  hurried  back  to 
his  home — to  his  church  with  its  session,  every  member 
of  whom  would  lead  in  public  prayer  ;  to  his  preaching 
and  work.  Sunday,  September  9th,  came.  He  made 
it  a  very  busy  Sabbath.  Sunday  School  in  the  morn- 
ing, two  preaching  services,  a  meeting  of  his  session, 
visits  to  his  orphan  children,  a  Sabbath  typical  of  the 
thousands  like  it  he  had  spent  in  the  same  good  cause. 
Tired  at  last,  he  laid  himself  down  that  night  in  peace 
to  sleep — in  the  Perfect  Silence,  in  the  Deep  Darkness. 
And  his  battle  with  death  was  ended.    He  had  won  ! 


w 


XXIII 
THE  SOUL  OF  A  SCHOOL 

And  when  to  what  unimaged  lea, 

On  what  weird  wave  I  ride, 
In  midst  of  what  vast  mystery. 

On  swell  of  what  new  tide, 
If  One  who  waits  by  fiotsamed  sea 

Should  draw  me  to  His  side  — 
On  that  strange  beach  should  stoop  for  me  — 

I  shall  be  satisfied. 

HEN  a  man  dies  he  loses  everything  except 
his  life. 
Those  who  come  after  him  divide  his  pos- 
sessions. Even  his  personal  effects  pass  eventually 
into  hands  he  never  knew,  or  they  are  destroyed  by 
purpose  or  accident.  His  reputation  diminishes ;  his 
glory  fades  ;  hour  by  hour  his  memory  perishes  ;  only 
his  life  abides. 

Forgetting  the  assurance  of  confident  words  where- 
with we  speak  of  the  future  life  we  write  now  of  this 
hour  and  this  earth.  We  view  institutions  and  know 
them  to  be  persons.  They  breathe,  they  move,  they 
live.  And  their  souls  are  the  souls  of  some  who  were 
or  are ;  who  breathed  into  them  the  breath  of  life 
until  they  became  living  spirits.  That  is  what  Emer- 
son meant  when  he  said  that  every  institution  is  but 
the  lengthened  shadow  of  one  man,  and  Carlyle  when 
he  described  history  as  the  life  stories  of  the  world's 
great  men.     So  institutions  are  begotten  in  the  wild 

253 


254:  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

ecstasies  of  passionate  love  of  will  for  Will,  of  dream 
for  Dream,  of  spirit  for  Spirit. 

Thus  three  great  chains  bind  a  soul  to  its  school — 
one  is  the  attitude  of  the  creator  to  that  which  he  has 
made,  one  is  the  devotion  of  the  inventor  to  that  which 
he  has  dreamed  and  one  is  the  love  of  a  father  for  his 
child.  And  these  three  are  one.  For  the  soul  of 
dreamer,  creator  and  father  passes  into  the  school,  in- 
forms its  buildings,  breathes  softly  over  its  campus  and 
becomes  the  atmosphere,  the  spirit  of  the  institution. 

The  ideal  building  is  a  man.  In  an  educational 
building,  for  example,  every  lineament  of  the  ideal 
character  should  be  drawn  in  its  face.  Honesty  should 
be  there  with  all  its  vast  contempt  for  veneer  and  shod- 
diness  ;  Reliability  should  be  there  with  its  durability 
as  of  stone ;  Permanence  should  be  there  speaking  of 
to-morrow  when  the  present  is  yesterday ;  Dignity 
should  be  there  to  weave  its  outlines  into  every  life  that 
comes  within  its  pale ;  Reverence  should  be  there  with 
its  upward  pointing  hand — all  these  should  be  read  in 
its  face  as  in  the  face  of  a  man,  and  every  other  quality 
of  the  ideal  expressing  in  structural  strength  and  archi- 
tectural beauty  a  personality  distinct  and  perfect.  Im- 
perfections in  a  millionaire's  palace  are  permissible,  but 
not  in  an  institution  whose  perpetual  office  is  to  teach, 
to  make  character,  to  beget  children  after  its  kind.  So 
the  spirit  of  a  man  is  revealed  in  the  institution  he 
founds,  and  after  he  has  gone  that  spirit  abides  ;  it  was 
his  life  given  to  it.  It  lives  after  he  dies  by  the  will  of 
a  successor  of  kindred  spirit  and  similar  soul. 

Therefore,  as  we  look  at  the  Thornwell  Orphanage, 
we  view  really  its  founder.  He  is  more  plainly  seen 
there  than  in  his  church  which  came  to  him  in  form 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SCHOOL  255 

and  creed  from  out  of  the  ages,  or  in  his  college  which 
he  soon  committed  to  the  hands  of  others.  It  was  into 
Thornwell  Orphanage  that  he  breathed  the  spirit  of  his 
life. 

How  shall  we  characterize  that  spirit  ?  It  was  so 
human  and  so  divine,  its  elements  so  manifold  that  one 
is  puzzled  looking  for  a  point  of  entrance  to  its  under- 
standing until  he  suddenly  is  startled  by  its  face.  For 
the  outlines  read  there,  in  campus,  and  building,  and 
catalogue,  and  discipline,  and  school  and  church,  and 
design,  and  purpose  are  the  features  of  its  father.  As 
his  soul  had  expressed  itself  in  his  own  face  so  also  in 
the  face  of  tixis  home  of  the  fatherless,  his  dreams 
and  hopes,  his  prayers  and  high  ambitions,  his  tender 
love  for  the  helpless,  his  mighty  devotion  to  God  had 
found  another  form  of  revelation. 

And  as  we  study  those  features  these  are  the  things 
we  read  in  them  : 

We  see  a  man  who  believed  that  orphans  should  be 
educated  as  well  as  clothed.  This  was  the  new  idea 
which  he  injected  into  orphan-care  in  America.  The 
fact  that  a  child  was  fatherless  did  not,  in  his  opinion, 
deprive  it  of  the  right  to  think  and  learn.  Hitherto 
orphan  homes  had  taken  the  form  of  great  barracks 
into  which  hundreds  of  the  unfortunate  parent  less  were 
huddled  until  they  could  be  bound  out  or  adopted. 
This  is  still  what  an  orphanage  means  in  the  greater 
part  of  America.  This  man  built  homes  for  his  or- 
phans better  in  every  way  than  that  he  built  for  him- 
self and  his  own  children.  He  found  for  each  home  a 
mother.  He  built  schools  for  them  and  provided 
teachers  and  libraries  and  museums  and  added  a 
technical   school   where  iron   and   wood-working  and 


256  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

printing  and  cobbling  were  taught  them.  To  these  he 
added  a  farm  and  a  dairy  so  that  dollars  might  be  saved 
as  well  as  a  school  of  agriculture  founded.  For  the 
girls^he  provided  classes  in  housekeeping,  cooking,  sew- 
ing, laundering,  canning,  covering  every  feature  of 
their  future  home  life.  And  having  taught  them  to 
think  and  to  work  he  added  playgrounds  for  fun. 

We  see  a  man  who  believed  that  religion  is  just  as 
important  as  any  other  food.  Having  built  a  church 
tower  so  high  that  it  dominated  the  village,  he  built 
another  so  high  that  it  dominated  the  orphanage.  He 
loved  no  landscape  without  such  a  principal  motif.  As 
a  consequence  no  child,  no  person  ever  entered  the 
Thorn  well  Orphanage  who  was  not  soon  saturated  with 
its  atmosphere  which  was  ever  heavily  laden  with 
prayer  and  hymns  and  Bible  texts.  With  these  the 
day  began  and  with  these  it  ended.  Each  morning, 
often  beneath  only  the  starlight  of  winter,  at  6  :  60 
o'clock  Eastern  time,  the  children,  having  finished 
their  breakfast  in  Memorial  Hall,  marched  to  the  semi- 
nary chapel  to  pray  and  praise.  Prayer-meeting  came 
on  Thursday  night ;  blessings  before  each  meal ;  Sunday 
School  and  two  church  services  on  each  Sabbath ; 
these  were  the  external  manifestations  of  the  internal 
fires.  He  never  tired  of  them  and  the  children  grew 
to  love  them  so  that  when  they  had  left  their  home  for 
the  inevitable  journey  into  the  world  the  outer  life 
seemed  strangely  insipid  and  meaningless,  lacking  in 
depth  and  ideal.  For  it  was  his  purpose  to  give  his 
children  schools  mental,  and  manual,  and  moral  not 
only,  but  to  add  yet  this  highest  gift — God. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  a  new  thing  appeared  under 
the  sun,  an   orphanage  that  was  a  home   and  school 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SCHOOL  257 

built  and  operated  for  the  orphans  and  in  order  to 
make  plainer  the  meaning  we  add,  not  for  the  officers 
and  teachers.     Of  course  in  such  an  institution  no  child 
was  bound  in  any  more  than  he  was  bound  out.    No 
legal  tie  forced  the  little  fatherless  inmate  of  Thorn- 
well  either  to  come  or  to  go.     He  might  come  when 
there  could  be  found  room  for  him.     He  could  go  when 
he  pleased  to  leave  the  love  and  kindness  and  joy  he 
found    there.    Nor  was  he  exploited  a^  an  orphan. 
1  his  last  he  forgot  in  the  discovery  that  he  had  a  Father 
who  was  on  earth  as  often  as  He  was  in  heaven     In 
relying  on  that  Father  he  found  himself  amply  pro- 
vided for  both  as  to  funds  and  family;  since  it  seemed 
that  those  whom  he  had  lost  he  would  some  day  have 
again.    All  this  the  teachers  taught  him,  having  been 
heraselves  taught.    Every  rule  they  lived  by,  every  law 
they  worked  by,  every  ideal  they  thought  by  was  for 

ruled    the  greatest  among  them   became  servants  of 

pointed;  on   it  all  counsel  centered.     The  Thornwel 
Orphanage  was  not  built  in  order  that  many  offl  et 

bTl  w     r  f  ^'';  ''^^"^  """^  P-^«°-'  be  p^rotected 
by  law  and  custom  from  over  much  labour,  but  that  little 

milt  Teal  fh^""f  '"^'^  ""^^  "^^^^^  -^  therefrom 
s^mSiarvTbi?  T*"""  ^'"^'^  '^g'"°'°&'  ^«  ^s  old 
STe  Lo  d  t"'.v  'IT''  ^PP--»gly.  -  the  fear 
and  L  .1''  ^^''  ^'^^  P^P^^^  ^^  ga^-e  himself 

and  he  expected  a  similar  gift  from  all  about  him.  It 
was  the  little  boy  again  wandering  among  museums 
and  hbraries  and  bookstores  and  churches  and  orphan 
homes  of  the  ancient  city  by  the  sea  and  planning  to 


258  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

give  himself  to  God.  The  orphanage  was  one  way  in 
which  he  did  it. 

For  he  reconstructed  his  life  there.  Was  it  the  col- 
lege that  he  loved  and  the  dear  old  Chrestomathic 
Society  ?  He  built  one.  Was  it  the  quiet  alcove  of 
the  Charleston  library,  rich  with  the  stores  of  past 
wisdoms  ?  He  built  one.  Was  it  a  museum  that 
seemed  very  precious  as  he  remembered  the  happy 
hours  he  had  spent  poring  over  rare  coins  or  studying 
the  outlines  of  ancient  dinosaurs?  He  built  one, 
and  having  spent  a  long  life  in  collecting  such  coins 
gave  them  to  it.  Was  it  a  church  with  a  tower  like 
St.  Michael's  that  floated  ever  in  his  vision  and  a  ceme- 
tery with  their  white  memorials  clustered  around  it  ? 
He  built  one. 

All  that  God  gave  him  he  gave  back  to  God. 

And  in  giving  it  he  expressed  in  form  of  stone  and 
timber  the  pure  and  gentle  spirit  of  the  truly  great. 
It  is  often  thought  of  the  light  of  certain  radio  active 
substances  that  it  consists  of  infinitely  minute  particles 
of  the  incandescent  substances  emitted  at  a  high  rate 
of  speed  so  that  a  beam  of  such  light  is  a  part  of  the 
substance.  Such  was  the  light  on  his  campus,  coming 
as  it  did  direct  from  his  own  flaming  soul. 

JSTo  wonder  that  other  leaders  and  other  denomina- 
tions were  soon  following  in  his  footsteps  as  nearly  as 
they  might.  They  heard,  and  came,  and  saw  and  went 
away  and  built  likewise.  They  liked  his  cottage  sys- 
tem ;  they  liked  his  technical  school  and  farm,  and 
manual  training  courses — for  both  boys  and  girls  ;  they 
liked  all  absence  of  legal  bonds  and  the  love  that  was 
substituted  instead  ;  they  liked  the  insistence  on  the 
educational  idea    throughout  and   the  religious   tone 


THE  SOUL  OF  A  SCHOOL  259 

everywhere ;  they  liked  the  faith  and  courage  that  had 
made  all  these  possible. 

Therefore,  scattered  here  and  there  through  sixteen 
Southern  and  many  Eastern  and  Western  states,  similar 
institutions  sprang  up  following  this  working  model 
until  many  times  over  his  prayer  was  answered  : 

"  Lord,  ever  be  mindful  of  us  and  help  the  children. 
When  I  am  gone,  raise  up  one  like-minded  to  do  this 
work  that  it  may  go  on  forever  ! " 

And  into  all  this  work  he  carried  a  soul  as  sweet  and 
pure  as  a  woman's.  Here  is  a  prayer  taken  from  his 
private  journal,  flooding  its  page  with  light. 

"  I  love  Him  because  He  has  heard  my  prayers.  I 
ought  also  to  thank  Him  more  than  I  have  for  having 
kept  me  pure  from  my  infancy  to  this  day,  fitting  me 
for  the  charge  of  so  many  girls  and  women  as  are 
under  my  protection.  Never  once  have  I  broken  His 
law  of  purity  nor  have  I  ever  taken  His  name  in  vain 
nor  have  I  ever  once  been  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
— nor  once  have  I  taken  that  which  was  not  mine, 
since  I  learned  the  right.  I  have  never  bet  or  played  a 
game  of  cards.     I  thank  God  for  all  this." 

Such  was  the  soul  of  his  school. 


XXIV 
LIFE  AND  LEAVES 

To  roam,  to  rest,  to  reverie,  whither 

Speedeth  mortal  swallow  ; 
Shoreward,  see  !  from  every-hither 

Wings  o'er  crest  and  hollow  ! 
To  love  he  fares  and  every-thither 

Love  doth  follow. 

THERE  is  a  strange  law  whereunder  we  live  by 
whose  ruling  all  that  we  have  is  bought  with 
a  price.  If  we  want  muscle  we  must  work,  if 
we  wish  brains  we  must  think  ;  even  God  gives  nothing 
away. 

Occasionally  some  man  finds  a  pearl  of  great  price 
and  straightway  goes  and  sells  all  that  he  has  and  buys 
it.     Such  a  man  was  W.  P.  Jacobs. 

Through  all  his  lifetime  he  was  obsessed  with  the 
idea  of  God.  As  a  little  boy  we  find  him  actually 
loving  God,  with  a  love  deeper  and  more  intense  than 
that  he  felt  for  father  or  mother,  or  the  "  noble  art  of 
phonography."  It  never  occurred  to  him  that  any 
other  life  was  possible  for  him  than  the  one  he  was 
going  to  live,  wherein  he  gave  all  he  had  and  received 
whatever  God  was  pleased  to  give. 

So  he  adopted  as  his  life  motto :  "  Seekest  thou  great 
things  for  thyself?  Seek  them  not."  With  it  he 
began  and  with  it  he  ended  his  days. 

The  record  of  his  life  is  the  record  of  one  who 
260 


LIFE  AND  LEAVES  261 

abandoned  all  hope  of  honour  or  preferment,  whose 
friend  was  poverty,  and  whose  companion  sacrifice. 
Those  who  knew  him  best  think  of  him  as  a  man  who 
had  no  pleasures  except  those  associated  with  either  re- 
ligion or  education.  The  things  most  men  are  inter- 
ested in  as  fads  failed  to  interest  him.  After  a  while 
he  gave  up  his  home  itself  and  made  his  abode  with 
the  orphans.  His  manner  of  life  among  them  was  like 
their  own.  He  arose  regularly  at  about  six  each  morn- 
ing and  after  dressing  by  a  fire  he  himself  had  built 
read  his  Greek  and  Hebrew  Testaments  until  breakfast 
at  6  :  30.  In  this  way  he  was  able  to  finish  the  perusal 
of  his  Greek  Testament  fifty-seven  times  and  of  the 
Hebrew  an  unrecorded  number.  In  the  winter  cold 
and  darkness,  or  in  the  dewy  morn  of  summer  he  ate 
his  breakfast  with  the  orphans  and  thence,  still  under 
the  stars  in  winter,  he  went  with  them  to  chapel  wor- 
ship. By  7  :  30  the  service  was  over  and  he  was  on  his 
way  to  his  office,  and  there  for  some  four  hours  he 
breathed  through  the  mails.  A  round  of  the  orphan- 
age campus  followed  his  "  work  hour,"  then  dinner  with 
the  children,  and  thereafter  reading  and  pastoral  visit- 
ing. Came  supper  and  family  prayers  and  the  evenings 
were  spent  in  study  by  his  own  fireside  with  the  orphan 
children,  and  his  own  by  blood,  gathered  around  him. 
This,  with  slight  modification,  was  his  habit  of  life  for 
nearly  a  half-century.  To  do  it  he  renounced  his 
chances  of  fame  in  pulpit,  his  dreams  of  ease  in  litera- 
ture, his  opportunities  of  wealth  in  business.  These 
he  gave  up  for  God.     What  was  his  reward  ? 

During  his  lifetime  more  money  was  given  him  than 
the  richest  men  in  the  county  had.  He  left  an  estate 
valued  at  nearly  a  million  dollars,  consisting  of  a  beau- 


262  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACX)BS 

tiful  stone  church,  a  college  for  orphans  with  some 
forty  buildings  on  its  campus  of  over  a  hundred  acres 
and  its  farms  of  several  hundred  more,  endowed  in  the 
amount  of  a  couple  of  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  a 
classical  college  whose  assets  were  valued  at  approach- 
ing a  third  of  a  million  dollars ;  these  and  many  other 
possessions  of  lesser  note.  All  of  these  were  his  during 
his  lifetime,  which  is  as  long  as  any  of  us  own  any- 
thing, to  have  and  to  hold  and  to  enjoy  with  grateful 
heart,  a  lifetime  which  almost  reached  the  limit  of 
fourscore  years,  not  by  reason  of  strength  so  much  as 
of  courage.  Furthermore,  he  enjoyed  his  possessions 
more  than  if  they  had  been  cotton  mills  or  railroads, 
got  more  pleasure  from  them  and  a  deeper  satis- 
faction. His  investments  paid  him  well,  in  character 
developed,  souls  made  safe,  ministers  and  missionaries 
commissioned,  helpless  lives  sheltered  from  suffering 
and  want,  dividends  of  such  a  sort  that  the  joy  of  them 
abides.  Over  a  thousand  human  beings  entered  his 
church  during  his  ministry  and  millions  felt  the  attrac- 
tion of  his  life  by  reason  of  this  beautiful  thing  that  he 
had  done.  By  means  of  this  wealth  it  was  given  him 
to  replace  weakness  with  strength,  blindness  with  sight, 
fear  with  courage,  and  disbelief  with  faith.  He  cared 
for  and  educated  a  thousand  boys  and  girls  who  other- 
wise would  have  been  taught  in  the  other  school,  and 
the  doing  of  it  gave  him  the  intensest  pleasure,  so  rich, 
so  genuine,  so  divine,  that  the  tiny  section  of  his  for- 
tune saved  by  and  devoted  to  himself  alone  seemed 
utterly  insipid  and  fruitless.  This  great  wealth  of 
work  and  accomplishment  was  part  of  his  reward. 
But  only  a  part,  for  richer  and  greater  w^as  another 
gift  offered  only  to  those  who  have  given  all.     His  life 


LIFE  AND  LEAVES  263 

he  also  left,  a  wonderful  legacy,  given  away  to  any 
who  would  have  it.  For  it  is  not  houses,  nor  lands, 
nor  gold,  that  count  in  the  final  estimates  of  values 
but  thought  and  devotion  and  deed.  We  should  truly 
"  count  time  by  heart  throbs ;  they  live  most  who  think 
most,  feel  the  noblest,  act  the  best."  We  can  do  with- 
out big  money  but  we  cannot  do  without  great  lives ; 
we  can  dispense  with  big  buildings  but  we  cannot  dis- 
pense with  examples  of  ideal  conduct.  They  are  too 
sadly  rare.  And  so  it  seems  that  when  occasionally  a 
man  acts  as  if  religion  and  God  were  real,  as  if  self 
was  to  be  lost  sight  of  and  the  Power  seen,  only,  there 
comes  slowly  but  very  surely  into  his  life  a  strength,  a 
grace,  and  a  glory  that  is  as  it  were  a  very  halo  of 
God.  Such  lives  are  ever  greater  than  their  results 
and  infinitely  more  valuable.  Large  things  are  not  to 
be  confused  with  great  things.  It  is  the  motive  that 
characterizes  the  man.  It  is  a  life  like  this  that  gives 
a  clue  to  the  ultimate  goal  of  civilization.  They  are 
rare  now  but  they  will  come  in  ever  increasing  num- 
bers. They  are  to  our  present  age  what  the  ability  to 
see  once  was  to  our  primordial  ancestors.  It  is  not  in 
the  founding  of  orphanages,  or  colleges,  or  churches, 
that  the  fundamental  purpose  of  such  a  life  is  to  be 
found,  but  in  being  something.  These  things  are  like 
the  seats  in  a  classroom — they  are  necessary  but  they 
are  not  what  the  student  is  there  for.  One  hardly 
dares  to  guess  the  mind  of  Providence,  but  it  looks  as 
if  the  Power,  when  a  generation  has  become  deedlessly 
unconscious  of  Him  and  His  promises,  sets  such  a  man 
up  like  some  lamp  with  gas-illumined  mantel  as  an  ex- 
ample of  how  beautiful  even  the  simplest  life  msiy 
become  when  the  flame  of  God  fires  the  humble  earth 


264  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

that  contains  it.  Nor  should  we  forget  that  whether 
it  be  the  final  victory  or  the  craving  that  drives 
towards  its  attainment,  both  are  God.  And  their 
value  lies  in  the  innate  conviction  felt  by  the  wisest 
who  see  them,  that  they  differ  from  other  lives  by 
being  an  advance  in  the  direction  along  which  human 
life  is  to  develop,  the  ultimate  goal  of  the  years.  Like 
the  highest  wave  of  the  incoming  tide  they  mark  the 
present  but  not  the  final  limit  of  the  flood.  Only  by 
them  can  one  tell  whether  the  tide  ebbs  or  flows.  The 
privilege  of  living  such  a  life  is  a  prize  to  be  grasped 
after.  It  is  the  finished  product  of  the  world-factory, 
as  Henry  Drummond  would  say,  not  where  men  make 
things  but  where  things  make  men. 

And  to  this  man  who  gave  away  his  life  there  came 
another  beautiful  return  gift— no  less  a  thing  than  the 
marvellous  privilege  of  living,  itself,  of  knowing  and 
thinking  and  believing  things  not  common  among  the 
sons  of  men.  One  forgets  the  honours  that  came  to 
him,  the  D.  D.'s  and  LL.  D.'s,  the  compliments  and  in- 
vitations, the  appointments  and  distinctions,  "  baubles  " 
he  called  them  in  remembering  the  real  gifts,  the 
strange  fears,  the  beautiful  faiths,  the  victorious  cour- 
age. To  have  lived  deeply,  to  have  known  disaster  as 
a  comrade  with  whom  one  has  sojourned  in  the  pit ;  to 
have  walked  arm  in  arm  with  woe  ;  to  have  sat  down  at 
the  table  alone  with  poverty,  to  have  believed  in  the 
dawn  at  midnight,  to  have  dreamed  of  summer  amid 
the  chill  of  a  wintry  storm  and  withal  to  have  been 
patient  with  the  men  who  could  not  see  nor  understand, 
this  is  to  live.  His  richest  gifts  were  agonies  and 
dreams,  toilings  and  lonelinesses,  aspirations  and  soli- 
tudes of  desire  wherein  he  and  God  walked  toerether. 


LIFE  AND  LEAVES  266 

wherefrom  they  two  went  forth  to  victory.  A  night 
of  blood,  thereafter  a  college ;  an  agony  of  sacrifice, 
and  therefrom  an  orphanage ;  a  meditation  upon  God 
in  the  night  season,  and  the  next  day  a  revival ;  a 
quiver  in  the  darkness  of  fear,  and  out  of  the  cloud 
the  Voice  of  Victory ! 

So  when  the  account  is  cast  up  at  the  end,  it  is  as 
He  said  it  would  be.  "Whosoever  shall  lose  his  life 
for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

In  the  back  yard  of  his  home  lot,  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  orphanage  campus,  there  yet  stands  a 
beautiful  and  stately  white  oak  tree.  For  many  dec- 
ades its  tender  pink  leaves  have  signalled  the  coming 
springs.  Under  its  spreading  branches  the  wayfarer 
has  sought  comfort  from  the  sun  all  summer  long ; 
when  the  fall  came  its  limbs  have  murmured  beneath 
the  swift  autumnal  gale  and  the  winter  snows  and 
annual  February  freeze  have  not  spared  its  branches. 
Whether  in  spring  or  autumn,  in  winter  or  summer,  it 
has  stood  steadily  and  easily,  because  it  was  firmly  set 
by  a  thousand  roots  and  filaments  in  the  earth  beneath. 
From  the  waters  that  are  under  the  earth  it  draws, 
even  in  the  driest  summer,  the  hundred  and  more  gal- 
lons which  its  many  leaves  evaporate  invisibly  each 
day  into  the  air.  From  the  unseen  deeps  the  water 
comes  and  into  the  unseen  heights  it  goes,  he  who  rests 
beneath  knowing  not  of  either. 

As  it  is  with  the  oak,  so  it  was  with  its  master.  A 
scion  from  the  Florist's  garden  he  was  set  out  where 
another  willed.  There  he  took  root  and,  growing,  did 
his  work.  It  happened  to  be  in  a  place  called  Clinton, 
into  whose  soil  his  roots  were  deeply  sunk.  But  he 
was  neither  of  Clinton,  nor  for  Clinton,  nor  by  Clinton, 


266  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

though   he  loved  Clinton  more  than  any  other  spot  in 
the  world.     From  far-off  springs  he  drew  his  life ;  to 
far-off  heights  he  sent  his  toils.     Perhaps  the  most  dis- 
tinctive contribution  he  made  to  the  world  was  in  lift- 
ing the  orphan  asylum  into  an  educational  institution. 
The  cottage  system,  in  which  a  mother  cares  for  a  small 
number  of  children,  the  church  life  into  which  each 
child  is  drawn,  the  school  with  steadily  rising  grades 
even   through    college,   these   were   combined  on   his 
campus,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  America. 
The  life-blood  for  these,  the  money  wherewith  nearly 
forty  buildings  were  constructed  to  embody  this  idea 
came  from  far-off  springs,  as  came  his  orphans  to  bene- 
fit from  them,  from  the  lands  to  which  they  also  re- 
turned.    From  Chicago  came  buildings  and  large  en- 
dowment gifts,  from   Boston   and  Atlanta,  and   New 
York,  but  not  from  Clinton.     The  power  that  built  the 
Thorn  well  Orphanage  had  no  special  relation  to  its  en- 
vironment excepting  only  to  love  and   bless  it.     Xow 
this    is   perhaps   the  most  astonishing  and  significant 
thing  in  his  whole  life.     It  was  his  dream  to  build  a 
little  forsaken  village  church  into  a  tower  of  light  and 
strength.     Upon  his  tiny  Sunday  School,  and  church, 
and  high   school,  and  orphanage  of  the  seventies  he 
lavished  all  the  love  of  a  great  soul  and  all  the  faith  of 
a  will  that  could  not   be   denied.     By  seme  strange 
process   of  spiritual  law  he   gathered    from   afar  the 
power  wherewith  to  make  his  dreams  come  true.     Was 
it  prayer  that  did  it,  or  toil,  or  an  unusual  genius,  or  a 
spiritual  telepathy  that  could  move  the  Great  Soul  and 
the  lesser  souls  needed  to  complete  the  electric  circuit 
of  his   prayer-spirit  ?    Forty  buildings   of  stone,  and 
brick,  and  cement,  and  only  a  pen  to  explain  them ; 


LIFE  AND  LEAVES  267 

five  hundred  acres  of  woodland  and  meadow,  and  only 
a  printing-press  to  buy  them ;  a  thousand  orphans  fed 
and  clothed  and  educated,  and  only  a  prayer  to  pay  the 
bills !  It  is  well  for  those  who  would  take  courage 
from  such  an  example  that  no  local  pride  or  profit 
shai'ed  largely  in  the  doing  of  it. 

From  this  we  can  understand  the  more  easily  what 
he  meant  when  he  referred  to  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment as  a  long  document  "  for  such  a  simple  thing  as 
leaving  this  world,"  and  this  although  he  had  more  to 
leave  than  most.  His  church  which  was  his  life  had  to 
be  given  up  and  his  college  which  was  his  soul  he 
would  see  no  more.  The  happy  faces  of  his  orphans 
would  fade  and  their  voices  die  away  forever.  Friends 
he  had,  and  loved  ones,  and  admirers  by  the  thousands, 
all  these  must  be  left,  and  the  museum  which  he  liked 
well  to  arrange,  wondering  all  the  while  whether  an- 
other hand  as  loving  would  so  tenderly  touch  its  speci- 
mens when  he  was  gone.  All  these  he  must  leave,  not 
forgetting  his  collection  of  rare  coins  nor  his  famous 
phonographic  library — yet  he  thought  it  a  simple  thing 
to  leave  them.  And  though  he  went  suddenly  there 
was  nothing  left  behind  that  needed  to  be  explained. 
He  had  done  his  work  so  well  that  the  things  he  made 
did  not  require  his  presence  to  live.  When,  the  day 
after  he  was  laid  to  rest,  the  faithful  treasurer  of  the 
orphanage  opened  the  safe  he  found  every  investment 
listed  and  labelled  and  all  the  precious  endowment  safe, 
not  a  worthless  stock  or  bond  among  them.  Through- 
out the  whole  campus  the  work  of  the  institution  pro- 
ceeded as  naturally  as  the  order  of  nature  herself.  It 
was  all  ready  for  his  successor.  No  controversy  was 
on,   no   danger   was   imminent,  no  explanations  were 


268  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

necessary,  no  orders  were  needed.  In  his  library  he 
had  gathered  his  history,  in  his  diary  he  had  poured 
out  his  soul,  in  the  stone  of  church  and  college  and  or- 
phanage he  had  crystallized  his  dreams.  It  was  simple 
enough.  All  could  see  and  understand.  So  he  came 
to  the  end  of  a  perfect  day  full  of  work  and  service 
and  with  the  fruits  of  a  long  life  about  him,  fruits 
gathered  of  springs  deep  down  underground  and  of 
airs  wafted  from  afar,  he  left  for  the  lands  wherefrom 
his  help  had  come. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  his  life  had  been  its  eter- 
nity.    That  made  it  a  simple  matter  to  die. 

He  had  all  his  life  long  loved  and  cultivated  traits 
of  thought  and  feeling  and  conduct  that  are  pei^nanent, 
abiding,  and  everlasting.  That  made  the  change  from 
Clinton  to  the  Yast  Abroad  less  marked.  The  tran- 
sient, the  temporary,  the  passing  vanity  had  no  part  in 
him.  That  made  it,  even  as  he  said,  "  a  simple  thing 
to  leave  this  world."  He  had  lived  the  "  Eternal  Life  " 
and  it  is  characteristic  of  the  Eternal  Life  that  it 
cannot  end.  Every  death  is  romantic,  how  sweetly 
his  !  But  to  see  the  halo  of  it  one  must  go  back  to  the 
sad  dark  days  of  the  seventies  when  only  the  bravest 
could  keep  hope  alive ;  must  recall  the  beautiful  dreams 
of  his  young  manhood;  must  think  of  the  tiny  high 
school  and  church  and  orphanage.  Then  the  days  pass 
swifter  than  a  weaver's  shuttle,  and  one  bright  beauti- 
ful day  in  September  an  old  man  is  being  borne  to  his 
long  home  and  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets.  The 
long  funeral  procession  leaves  the  church  of  a  great 
orphans'  home  and  school,  the  wonder  and  love  of  the 
whole  South.  In  it  are  the  faculty  and  students  of  a 
stalwart  young  college  growing  under  the  administra- 


LIFE  AND  LEAVES 

tion  of  strong  and  helpful  hands.  As  it  passes  the 
corner  of  his  home  lot,  hundreds  of  high  school  chil- 
dren whom  he  was  to  address  at  their  opening  now 
deferred  in  his  memory,  join  their  numbers  and  sorrows 
to  the  train  that  moves  on  to  the  cemetery  which  his 
church  gave  to  the  town  decades  before.  These  all 
surround  his  grave  with  others  from  distant  parts,  the 
greatest  funeral  gathering  in  the  history  of  the  town. 

Between  these  two  hours  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed — 
the  hour  of  eager,  self-sacrificing  struggle  and  that  of 
honoured  tribute  and  glory.  The  former  is  the  life, 
the  latter  the  leaves. 

And  somehow,  standing  by  the  grave,  our  thoughts 
go  back,  far  back  to  a  little  boy  in  a  great  city.  We 
see  him  as  he  goes  here  and  there  from  museum  to 
orphan's  house,  from  college  to  Courtenay's,  thinking, 
lonely,  wrapped  in  dreams  of  life  and  time,  wonder- 
ing all  the  while  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  him, 
eager  only  to  drink  of  that  cup  which  would  intoxicate 
him  with  God.  We  see  him  as  he  enters  his  father's 
home  and  School  for  Young  Ladies  at  the  close  of  a 
long  day's  work  at  college,  books  in  hand,  telling  about 
the  past,  and  the  stars,  and  the  noble  art  of  phonography. 
He  is  probably  coughing  if  the  day  is  cold  and  he  wears 
glasses  because  without  them  his  eyes  hurt  him  so.  He 
is  thinking  far  thoughts  of  distant  days  whose  dim  im- 
penetrable forms  summon  him  forward.  He  is  not 
afraid  to  go,  for  his  purpose  is  fixed.  His  heart  beats 
faster  at  the  thought  of  a  strange  and  beautiful  resolve 
as  his  lips  murmur  softly : 

"  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?  Seek  them 
not." 


XXV 
HIS  SUCCESSOE 

Some  dawning,  ruby-lit  for  coming  day, 

Uprising  from  the  unmeasured  sea  of  night. 
The  palms  shall  pierce,  at  last,  the  misty  gray, 

And  Thou  at  morn,  a  migrant,  shalt  alight 
With  those  who  followed,  to  the  Final  Lea, 
The  Lure  that  led  them  o'er  the  Lonely  Sea, 
There,  where  the  Summer  calls  to  all  who  love  her; 
Is  this  thy  so  great  faith,  my  Golden  Plover  ? 

Then,  swiftly,  for  the  Autumn  cometh  fast ; 

And,  surely,  for  the  Winter  maketh  sure ; 
With  such  an  urge  within  me  as  thou  hast ; 

With  such  a  voyage  before  me  to  endure ; 
Though  night  and  storm  and  cloud  my  way  should  cover, 
I,  also,  shall  arrive,  0  golden  plover ! 

AS  we  watch  this  man  with  his  back  against  the 
wall  fighting  off  Death  with  one  hand  while 
he  kept  busily  working  with  the  other  we  real- 
ize that  we  are  looking  upon  a  high  and  holy  tragedy. 
Grimly  determined  to  work  on  to  the  very  end,  it  was 
as  if  the  Power  would  test  him  to  see  how  much  cour- 
age he  had  gathered  from  ten  thousand  mercies  and 
how  much  faith  from  ten  thousand  starlit  nights. 
First  He  added  weakness  to  a  body  that  had  never 
been  strong,  sapping  his  force  at  this  point  and  at  that 
until  defense  after  defense  gave  way  and  guard  after 
guard  deserted.  His  throat  failed  and  his  speaking 
voice,  the  preacher's  favourite  glory,  left  him.  Yet 
with  his  cracked  and  quavering  tones  he  taught  the 

270 


HIS  SUCCESSOR  271 

tears  of  his  people  to  flow.  When  the  daughters  of 
music  had  thus  been  brought  low  the  grinders  ceased 
because  they  were  few,  leaving  weakness  and  sickness 
and  every  form  of  malnutrition  in  their  stead.  His 
form  bent  before  the  winter  storm,  but  the  old  lion 
crept  not  back  before  the  tigers  of  a  newer  age.  As 
long  as  he  could  see  and  hear  he  could  fight  for  his 
goal.  So  the  Power  muffled  the  voices  of  earth,  though 
it  took  a  sharp  and  dangerous  accident  to  do  it  the 
more  quickly,  as  if  He  would  find  out  how  fine  a  piece 
of  steel  He  had  tempered  or  else  set  up  again  by  life's 
pathway  "a  man  to  be  wondered  at."  As  word  came 
less  clearly  and  frequently  from  without  he  turned  to 
his  eyes  for  comfort  and  deepened  his  thought  and 
purpose  within  by  printed  page  and  meditation.  Then 
the  Power,  all  but  satisfied,  said,  "Let  there  be  no 
light,"  and  those  that  looked  out  of  the  windows  were 
darkened.  Thereafter  a  strange  thing  happened.  The 
man  redoubled  his  efforts,  saying :  "  The  day  was  Thine, 
the  night  also  is  Thine ! "  Without  health,  without 
hearing,  without  sight,  this  aged  wisp  of  a  man  fought 
on  for  God,  doing  a  work  so  heavy  and  so  great  that 
when  he  was  gone  whole  states  had  to  be  searched  for 
his  successors,  until  one  night  after  a  day  of  heavy 
labour  and  rich  reward,  his  gray  and  tired  head  was 
pillowed  in  a  deep  and  lasting  sleep. 

And  the  battle  with  Death  was  ended. 

Quietly,  as  the  dawn  was  breaking,  He  came  who  had 
always  been  near  and  the  man  who  had  wanted  to 
work  till  the  end  was  awakened. 

"  Cassie  !  "  he  called,  "  Cassie ! "  and  the  little  nurse, 
his  own  orphan  child  now  grown  into  womanhood, 
hastened  as  often  before  to  his  side.    "  Cassie ! " 


272  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

But  it  was  not  Cassie  at  all  into  whose  arms  he  fell 
back,  but  into  the  arms  of  the  Power. 

"  Wonderful,  beautiful  expanse — expanse  !  "  his  great 
teacher  for  whom  he  had  named  his  orphanage  had 
cried  when  he  also  had  at  last  been  freed. 

But  upon  this  man's  lips  no  other  cry  came,  only, 

"  Cassie ! "    "  Cassie !  " 

He  had  once  said  that  if  ever  a  monument  should 
be  erected  to  him  he  craved  a  rough-hewn  ashlar  with 
these  words  engraved  thereon :  "  The  Child." 

And  again  he  added :  "  If  they  would  explain  my 
life  let  them  write  on  my  memory  stone — '  He  loved 
God  and  little  children ! '  "  Perhaps  that  was  why 
they  only  were  present  when  the  end  came,  just  God 
and  one  of  his  little  children. 

But  it  was  dawn. 

Then  the  news  of  his  rapture  went  abroad.  It  had 
long  been  expected,  yet  how  sudden  it  seemed !  As 
the  black-faced  types  told  of  it  and  the  wires  trembled 
its  story,  his  earthly  honour-day  was  ushered  in.  From 
all  over  the  nation  hundreds  of  telegrams  hurried  their 
witness  of  some  far-distant  grief.  In  the  great  cities 
of  a  score  of  states  the  black  head  lines  spread  their 
sadness  and  dismay.  True  friends  in  many  a  past  des- 
perate fight  hastened  to  be  with  him  in  his  last  hour 
on  earth.  The  great  of  the  commonwealth,  the  dis- 
tinguished, the  powerful,  the  wealthy,  the  good  paused 
to  pay  him  tribute.  About  his  bier  with  moistened 
eyes  and  words  of  praise  were  that  good  friend  and 
comrade,  the  former  governor  of  his  state ;  the  Stated 
Clerk  of  his  Assembly,  his  lifetime  co-labourer;  the 
pastor  of  his  church  ;  the  president  of  his  college,  and 
many  other  men  of  high  and  holy  office.     From  his 


HIS  SUCCESSOK  273 

simple  home  they  bore  him  to  the  chapel  he  had  built 
for  the  orphans  and  there  they  comforted  themselves 
with  gentle  words  of  interpretation  and  praise.  There 
where  he  had  so  often  craved  an  audience  for  his  Christ 
a  vast  congregation  gathered  to  do  him  reverence.  He 
who  for  more  than  a  half-century  had  treasured  the 
name  of  each  comer  to  his  services,  numbering  them 
weekly  in  his  diary,  now  knew  not — or  shall  we  say 
watched  ? — how  great  an  audience  turned  aside  to  do 
him  honour.  After  it  was  done  the  long  procession 
followed  him  on  foot,  as  the  manner  of  the  village  is, 
to  the  cemetery  which  his  early  church  had  given  to 
the  town  where  they  laid  him  by  her  side  from  whom 
he  had  so  long  a  time  been  absent.  And  so  it  came  to 
pass  even  as  he  had  said : 

"  Just  twenty-iive  years  ago,  this  day,  my  darling 
wife  was  taken  from  me.  She  reminded  me  of  it  early 
this  morning,  in  a  dream. 

"  I  have  never  forgotten  her.  I  never  will  nor  can 
I.  I  hope  to  spend  an  eternity  enjoying  her  love  and 
presence.     Heaven  has  more  of  love  in  it  than  earth." 

"  The  good  gray  head  that  all  men  loved  "  shall  be 
seen  no  more  on  earth.  ISTo  more  shall  the  hesitating 
step  of  him  who  needed  strength  fall  upon  his  study 
floor.  She  who  would  seek  comfort  in  her  accustomed 
way  from  his  lips  must  forever  be  content  with  recall- 
ing the  phantom  words  of  memory  and  all  that  he 
loved  and  treasured,  his  books,  his  boys  and  girls,  his 
Bible,  his  birds  in  the  museum,  and  his  bells  in  memo- 
rial tower,  these  and  all  their  like  are  delivered  into 
other  hands. 

And  we  look  searchingly  about  saying,  Who  will 
succeed  him  ?    To  whom  shall  we  go  now  for  inspira- 


274  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

tion  and  for  that  fine  interpretation  of  life's  mysteries 
ivhich  only  those  can  give  who  have  met  its  toils  and 
pitfalls  victoriously  ?  Looking  upon  this  long  life  of 
usefulness  and  service  mellowed  by  so  many  experiences 
of  sorrow  and  softened  by  the  sadness  of  the  years,  we 
ask,  "  Who  will  succeed  him  ?  " 

Of  course  the  only  answer  is :  Whoever  wishes  to. 

The  mysteriously  beautiful  thing  about  this  life  lies 
not  in  the  results :  a  college,  a  church,  an  orphanage, 
but  in  the  quality  of  life  and  thought  and  feeling  that 
made  them  its  normal  and  necessary  expression.  The 
result  was  visible,  consisting  of  buildings  and  endow- 
ments and  persons  organized  into  congregations,  or 
classes,  or  homes.  The  life  was  secretly  grown  from 
hopes  high  and  holy ;  from  terrors  vivid  and  fearful ; 
from  love,  deep  and  abiding ;  from  struggles  and  woes 
and  joys.  It  was  this  invisible  quality  of  life  wrought 
out  in  the  crucible  of  the  experiences  of  battle  and 
dream  and  prayer  that  constitutes  his  real  life-work  and 
his  legacy  to  those  who  come  after  him.  The  great 
achievement  of  Columbus  at  the  Court  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  was  not  the  Nina^  the  Pinta,  and  the  Santa 
Maria^  but  the  foam- wrought  track  across  the  Atlantic 
that  any  sailor  might  thereafter  follow. 

Perhaps  the  fallacy  into  which  the  average  human 
being  most  easily  falls  in  contemplating  the  works  of 
great  men  is  to  regard  the  things  they  create  as  their 
gifts  to  the  world.  This  is  making  a  stove  of  Franklin, 
or  a  phonograph  of  Edison.  It  is  as  if  in  thinking  of 
Shakespeare  we  saw  only  his  Globe  Theater.  Every 
truly  great  man  is  a  trail-blazer.  His  work  is  not  in  the 
bark  that  he  strikes  from  the  trees  but  in  the  trail,  and 
his  real  successor  does  not  keep  blazing  the  same  trees 


HIS  SUCCESSOR  276 

but  pursues  the  path  by  the  same  spirit  into  the  never- 
ending  Beyond. 

We  shall  miss  the  meaning  of  this  life  if  we  regard  a 
church,  a  college,  an  orphanage,  as  its  measure  and 
glory.  These  are  only  the  normal  and  necessary  re- 
sults of  something  far  greater  than  they — a  motive,  the 
quality  and  power  of  which  should  alone  be  the  object 
of  our  regard.  The  church  was  once  a  thought,  the 
orphanage  a  sentiment,  the  college  a  simple  resolution. 
Faith  is  ever  greater  than  its  reward. 

And  we  are  persuaded,  as  we  look  back  over  that 
three-quarters  of  a  century,  that  the  most  wonderful 
thing  visible  is  not  a  town  redeemed,  nor  a  church 
multiplied,  nor  a  college  founded,  nor  an  orphanage 
built,  nor  any  nor  all  of  these  combined,  but  a  life^  far 
surpassing  them  in  beauty,  more  important  in  results 
and  rarer  in  perfectness  and  power. 

If  we  would  find  his  successor,  therefore,  we  must  go 
back  to  the  bare,  upper  room  to  which  the  young  min- 
ister had  come  in  the  last  year  of  the  great  strife  between 
the  brothers,  and  recall  again  his  fateful  resolution  to 
give  all  to  God  ;  to  toil,  to  pray,  to  love,  to  hope,  to  be- 
lieve, to  win.  No  glory  was  there,  nor  honour,  no  back- 
ing nor  popular  acclaim,  no  certainty  of  victory — only 
a  great  need,  a  great  purpose,  and  a  great  prayer.  But 
one  person  in  all  the  world  knew  whether  the  young 
minister  would  succeed  or  not — and  He  was  silent ! 

Thus  in  a  little  dilapidated,  crossroads  town,  with- 
out post-office,  or  railroad,  or  bank,  or  mill,  or  library, 
or  printing-press,  or  hotel,  or  public  utility,  or  institu- 
tion, save  only  barrooms  and  gambling  houses,  a  town 
that  had  never  had  a  resident  pastor  of  any  denomina- 
tion and  that  boasted  only  one  little  square  wooden 


276  THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER  JACOBS 

church,  without  even  a  melodeon  in  it,  this  youth 
whose  chief  interest  was  God  and  whose  chief  asset 
was  faith  faced  a  steadily  declining  population,  a 
regularly  decreasing  business,  and  a  spirit  of  hopeless- 
ness and  apathy ;  this  college  lad  whose  loves  had  been 
the  retired  alcoves  of  libraries,  and  relics  of  quiet 
museums,  and  the  silent  messages  of  rare  old  coins. 

And  as  he  prayed  the  Power  who  stood  by  his  side, 
so  attentive  and  so  near,  lifted  the  veil  of  the  future  in 
His  old  familiar  way  whereby  He  has  taught  His  seers 
to  see  that  which  is  to  come,  and  lo,  a  little  railway 
engine  came  puffing  its  busy  way  up  from  the  City  by 
the  Sea,  bringing  a  neat  little  printing-press  and  some 
pretty  fonts  of  new  types.  "With  them  also  came  a 
tiny  high  school  which  kept  growing  and  growing 
until  it  w^as  a  college  of  many  halls  echoing  the  shouts 
of  thousands  of  students.  As  if  by  the  grace  of  a  fairy 
a  house  full  of  little  children  grew  slowly  up  out  of  the 
earth  and  then  others  and  others  and — he  could  not 
count  the  number  of  them  for  listening  to  the  glad 
laughter  of  their  orphan  occupants.  Then  over  his  old 
dilapidated  town  a  steeple  slowly  rose,  with  just  the 
faintest  resemblance  to  St.  Michael's,  and  a  pulpit  came 
into  it,  and  an  organ,  and  chandeliers,  so  that  they 
could  have  services  at  night  and  see  how  to  read  the 
hymns,  and  then  it  suddenly  vanished,  while  as  from  a 
dissolving  view  there  slowly  grew  a  beautiful  stone 
church,  commodious,  well-appointed,  efficient,  and 
handsome.  And  while  he  gazed  on  it  wonderingly  a 
great  engine  rushed  past  hurrying  its  heavy  train  from 
metropolis  to  metropolis  but  staying  its  journey  at  this 
happy  little  city  of  libraries  and  mills  and  churches  and 
lovely,  cultured  people. 


HIS  SUCCESSOR  277 

He  turned,  delighted  from  his  vision  to  tell  of  it,  to 
those  who  stood  near,  but  they  only  laughed  at  him  for 
the  Dreamer  that  he  was.  But  like  all  the  Lonely 
Great  he  treasured  up  in  his  heart  all  the  things  that 
had  been  shown  him,  knowing  that  he  had  seen  further 
than  they.  Though  no  other  eyes  had  distinguished 
them  in  the  far  blue  haze  of  the  future  he  knew  that 
these  things  wer^e.  And  this  was  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen. 

And  now  we  know  that  he  did  well  to  believe,  in 
Him  who  taught  him  and  in  them  whom  he  taught  and 
in  that  Better  Thing  which  ever  comes  in  answer  to 
the  call  of  courageous,  toiling  faith  as  comes  the  spring, 
hearing  the  mellow  bells  of  the  first  yellow  jasmine 
who  having  sounded  her  call  leaves  the  rest  to  God. 
The  milk-white  blood-root  has  no  fear  in  her  heart  of 
the  chill  wind  of  winter,  counting  it  a  privilege  to  feel 
the  plash  of  cold  rain  on  her  cheek.  The  light  shines  in 
the  darkness,  unafraid,  preferring  the  night  to  the  day 
for  that  the  need  of  his  rays  therein  is  the  greater. 
And  the  man  whose  soul  was  quickened  by  that  Energy 
from  which  all  things  proceed  knew  that  without  dark- 
ness and  winter,  vrithout  coldness  and  death,  the  beauti- 
ful dream,  of  dawn,  of  spring,  of  life,  could  never  come 
true.    And  it  was  his  desire  to  do  his  Dream. 

"  Thine  was  the  prophet's  vision,  thine 
The  inspiration,  the  divine 
Insanity  of  noble  minds 
That  never  falters  nor  abates, 
But  labours  and  endures  and  waits 
Till  all  that  it  foresees,  it  finds 
And  what  it  cannot  find,  creates !  *' 


BOOKS  FOR  MEN 


ROBERT  E.    SPEER,    D.D.  Merrick  Lectures,  1917, 

■—  '  '        — —  Ohio  Wesleyan  Untverstty 

The  Stuff  of  Manhood 

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and  character  the  moral  qualities  which  ought  to  character- 
ize the  State.  To  a  discussion  of  these  ideals  and  some  sug- 
gested methods  of  their  attainment.  Dr.  Speer  devotes  this 
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CORTLAND  MYERS,   D.D.     _        Minister  of 

•  " Tremont  Temple,  Boston 

Money  Mad 

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ing as  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

CHARLES  REYNOLDS  BROJVN,  D.D.     Yale  University 

Five  Young  Men 

Messages  of  Yesterday  for  the  Young  Men  of  To- 
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The  Religion  of  a  Newspaper  Man 

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are  exquisitely  timed  and  placed,"— \S':?n«g^e/(i  Republican. 

BURRIS  A.  JENKINS,  D.D. 

The  Man  in  the  Street  and  Religion 

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**In  a  convindng  and  inspiring  way  and  in  a  graceful 
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that  'the  man  in  the  street'  well  enjoy." — Boston  Globe. 


LIGHT  ON  THE  GREAT  WAR 

JAMES  A.  MJCDONALD,  LL.D.        Editor  Toronto  Globs 

The  North  American  Idea 

The  Cole  Lectures  for  1917.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  famous  Canadian  editor  enjoys  an  established  and 
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spirit  of  liberty,  just  government,  and  freedom  of  individual 
action,  in  the  light  of  its  relation  to  the  Great  World  War. 

EDJVARD  LEIGH  PELL,  P.P.         Author  of"  Troublesome 

'  ——————  Religious  Questions'' 

What  Did  Jesus  ReallyTeach  About  War? 

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That  is  why  this  book  does  not  stop  with  clearing  up  trouble- 
some questions. 

ARTHUR!.  BROWN,  P.P.  AuthororUnitv  and  Missions'' 
■  ^' The  foreign  Alissionary,"  etc. 

Russia  in  Transformation 

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Years  may  pass  before  New  Russia  will  settle  down  to 
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gardless of  the  immediate  outcome.     The  book  is  most  timely. 

R.   A.    TORRET,   P.P.         Supt.  Los  Angeles  Bible  Institute 

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JAMES  M.    GRAY,  P.P.  Dean  of  the 

"  Moody  Bible  Institute,  Chicago 

Prophecy  and  the  Lord's  Return 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

What  is  the  purpose  of  God  in  connection  with  the  present 
International  cataclysm.  Does  prophecy  deal  with  the  world 
to-day.  The  author,  Dean  of  the  Moody  Bible  Institute,  of 
Chic?,go,  is  well-knoA\Ti  as  a  Bible  student  and  expositor, 
whose  writings  find  appreciation  throughout  the  Christian 
world.     Dr.  Grey's  chapters  have  unusual  interest  at  this  time. 


NEW  EDITIONS 


S.  HALL  YOUNG 

Alaska  Days  with  John  Muir 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.15 

"Do  you  remember  Stickeen,  the  canine  hero  of  John 
Muir's  famous  dog  story?  Here  is  a  book  by  the  man  who 
owned  Stickeen  and  who  v/as  Muir's  companion  on  that  ad- 
venturous trip  among  the  Alaskan  glaciers.  This  is  not  only 
a  breezy  outdoor  book,  full  of  the  wild  beauties  of  the  Alas- 
kan wilderness;  it  is  also  a  living  portrait  of  John  Muir  in 
the  great  moments  of  his  career." — New  York  Times, 

S.    R.     CROCKETT  Auth»r  of  "  Silv»  Sa»d,"  etc. 

Hal  'o  the  Ironsides :  ^  ^if^romweu  ^^* 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"Crockett's  last  story.  A  rip-roaring  tale  of  the  days  of  the 
great  Oliver — <iays  when  the  dogs  of  war  were  let  loose  in 
English  meadows,  and  "the  gallants  of  England  struck  home 
for  the  King." — Examiner. 

FANNY    CROSBY 

Fanny  Crosby^s  Story  ^i^rZl 

By  S.  Trevena  Jackson.  Illustrated,  cloth,  net  $1.15 

"This  is,  in  a  way,  an  autobiography,  for  it  is  the  story  of 
Fanny  Crosby's  life  as  she  told  it  to  her  friend,  who  retells 
it  in  this  charming  book.  All  lovers  of  the  blind  hymn 
writer  ought  to  read  this  volume.  It  tells  a  story  of  pathos 
and  of  cheer.  It  will  strengthen  the  faith  ana  cheer  the 
heart  of  every  reader." — Watchmcm-Examiner, 

PROF.  HUGH  BLACK 

The  New  World 

i6mo,  cloth,  net  $1.15. 

"Dr.  Black  is  a  strong  thinker  and  a  clear,  forcible  writer. 
Here  he  analyzes  national  tendencies  toward  unrest — social, 
material,  religious.  This  he  does  with  moderation  yet  with 
courage,  and  always  with  hopefulness." — The  Outlook. 

S.    M.    ZWEMER,  P.P.,   F.R.G.S.         Author  »/  ^^ArabU"  tU. 

Childhood  in  the  Moslem  World 

Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  net  $2.00. 

"The  claims  of  millions  of  children  living  and  dying  under 
the  blighting  influence  of  Islam  are  set  forth  with  graphic 
fidelity.  Both  in  text  and  illustrations,  Dr.  Zwemer's  new 
book  covers  much  ground  hitherto  lying  untouched  in  Mo- 
hammedan literature." — Christian  Work. 


INSPIRATION  FOR  MEN 


ROBERT  W.  BOLWELL 

After  College— What  ? 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

A  protest,  in  the  form  of  autobiographical  chapters,  against 
dawdling  through  college.  The  author  is  sprightly  and  read- 
able,— anything  but  preachy — but  does  put  some  very  whole- 
some  and   helpful   facts   in   such   form  as  to  grip  the   reade», 

HALFORD  E.   LUC  COCK 

Five-Minute  Shop-Talks 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

One  of  the  best  things  of  its  kind  yet  issued.  In  each 
of  these  thirty  or  more  brief  addresses,  Mr.  Luccock  em- 
ploys terse,  epigrammatic  language  and  contrives  to  compress 
into  a  five-minute  talk  the  wisdom  and  counsel  of  a  fifty- 
minute  sermon.  Every  word  is  made  to  tell — to  tell  some- 
thing   worth    hearing    and   heeding. 

CHARLES  CARROLL  ALBERTSON 

Chapel  Talks 

A  Collection  of  Sermons  to  College  Students. 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Practical  discourses  on  essential  subjects  delivered  in  vari- 
ous colleges  and  universities,  including  Columbia,  Cornell, 
Dartmouth,  Princeton,  Yale,  and  Virginia.  No  one  of  these 
sermons  required  more  than  twenty-five  minutes  to  deliver. 
They  are  characterized  by  earnest  argument,  familiar  illus- 
trations and    forceful   appeal. 

CORTLANDT    MYERS,     D.  D.  Author  of  " Real  Prayer." 
• ''The  Real  Holy  Sfirit,"  etc. 


The  Man  Inside 

A  Study  of  One's  Self.  By  Minister  at  Tremont 
Temple,  Boston.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  soc. 

A  four-fold  study  of  the  inner  life  of  a  man,  in  which  the 
popular  pastor  of  Tremont  Temple,  discusses  the  forces  that 
make  hirn,  lift  him,  save  him,  and  move  him.  The  book  is 
prepared  in  bright,  interesting  fashion,  and  abundantly  fur- 
nished with  suitable  and  forceful  illustration. 

JOHN  T.  PARIS  Popular-Price  Editions 

The  "Success  Books** 

Three  Vols,  each,  formerly  $1.25  net.     Now  each 
60c  net  (postage  extra). 
Seeking  Success 
Men  Who  Made  Good 
Making  Good 

Dr.  J.  R.  Miller  says:  "Bright  and  short  and  full  of  illus- 
trations from  actual  life,  they  are  just  the  sort  that  will  help 
young  men  in  the  home  in  school  among  associates  and  in 
busineas." 


BIOGRAPHY 


BOOKER   T.    tVASHINGTON 

The  Life  and  Times  of  Booker  T. 
Washington 

By  B.  F.  Riley,  D.D.,  Author  of  "The  White  Man's 
Burden,"  etc.    Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

This  authentic  I<ife  of  the  negro  slave  who  rose,  against 
overwhelming  odds,  to  the  conspicuous  position  he  occupied, 
t's  unique  amon§  biographies  in  American  history.  The  author 
has  succeeded  m  portraying  this  wonderful  life  with  frank- 
ness and  fairness  and  with  fidelity  to  the  times  to  which  the 
history  takes  him. 

THOMAS  J.  ARNOLD 

The  Early  Life  and  Letters  of  General 
Thomas  J.  Jackson    (stonewau  jackson) 

A  Biography  by  His  Nephew.  Illustrated,  i2mo, 
cloth,  net  $2.00. 

Many  biographies  of  Stonewall  Jackson  have  appeared,  but 
none  has  devoted  itself  to  the  part  in  his  life  covered  by  the 
present  volume.  The  object  of  the  new  work  is  to  reveal 
something  of  his  earlv  life  and  to  preserve  in  a  permanent 
foim  such  facts  as  will  be  of  interest  to  his  admirers. 

JOHN  OTIS  BARROWS 

In  the  Land  of  Ararat 

A  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Freeman 
Barrows  Ussher.     Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  tender  little  biography.  A  record  of  a  life  of  great  use- 
fulness, splendidly  crowned  by  its  being  freely  laid  down  in 
the  spirit  of  Him  who  "came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to 
minister." 

BASIL     MATHEWS  a  popular  Lift  of  the  Atostlt  Paul 

Paul  the  Dauntless 

The  Course  of  a  Great  Adventure.  Illustrated, 
8vo,  cloth,  net  $2.00. 

A  life-story  of  St.  Paul  which  strikes  a  new  note  and  is 
told  in  a  new  vein.  It  paraphrases  the  life  of  the  great 
Apostle,  as  it  depicts  a  man  of  gallant  spirit,  faring  forth  on 
a  great  adventure.  Without  distorting  the  historic  narrative 
the  author  fills  in  the  blanks  wifc  brightly  written  incidents. 
It  is  a  book  of  real  and  sustained  pleasure. 

MRS.    PERCY  V,  PENNYBACKER 

Mrs.  Percy  V.  Pennybacker 

An  Appreciation,  by  Helen  Knox.  Illustrated, 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"Ability    counts    for    much    in    an    administration but 

tact  counts  for  even  more,  and  both  of  these  qualities  are 
possessed  to  an  unusual  degree  by  this  sweet-natured  woman 
from  Texas." — Ladies'  Home  Journal. 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY 


FREDERICK   IF.    PEABODT 

The  ReligiO'Medical  Masquerade 

New  Edition.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

Ten  years  of  critical  investigation  of  Christian  Science,  re- 
peatedly with  the  aid  of  legal  process  in  important  litigations 
in  which  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  party  and  he  examined  under  oath 
many  of  her  closest  adherents,  have  qualified  Mr.  Peabody, 
above  all  others,  to  give  a  truthful  representation  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  movement  and  its  leaders.  He  was  the  Massa- 
chusetts lawyer  for  Mrs.  Eddy's  sons  in  their  protracted  liti- 
gation. 

I,  M.  HALDEMAN,   P.P. 

Christian  Science  in  the  Light  of  Holy 
Scripture 

New  Revised  Bdition.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25 

"Dr.  Plaldeman  brings  every  question  he  considers  to  the 
bar  of  that  highest  tribunal,  and  tests  it  in  the  full  light  of 
the  divine  revelation.  All  the  resources  of  his  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible  and  of  his  powers  of  keen  insight  and  ef- 
fective presentation  are  drawn  upon.  He  has  so  well  suc- 
ceeded that  we  do  not  see  what  more  can  be  said.  The  proof 
is  absolute;    it  is  clearly  stated;    it  is  exhaustive." — Examiner. 

J.    A.    PHILLIPS  Missionary  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

"         ~ '  Church  South  i?i  Mexico 

Roman  Catholicism  Analyzed 

A  Dispassionate  Examination  of  Romish  Claims. 
With  Foreword  by  Bishop  Burt.    8vo,  net  $1.50. 

"A  dispassionate  examination  to  the  claims  and  doctrines 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  arguments  are  clear 
and  conclusive.  The  logic  is  masterful,  incisive,  merciless 
and  based  upon  undisputed  facts-  The  style  is  clear,  lucid 
and  fascinating.  It  is  an  arsenal  of  anti-Catholic  facts."— 
Lookout. 

WILLIAM    PARKER 

The  Fundamental  Error  of  Woman 
Suffrage 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

Most  of  the  arguments  advanced  against  Woman  Suffrage 
are  purely  economic.  The  author  of  this  volume  adopts  an- 
jother  course,  declaring  the  fundamental  error  to  lie  in  the 
realm  of  morals.  From  this  viewpoint  he  discusses  his  subject 
in  its  moral  relation  to  the  chief  phases  of  modern  life — mar- 
r'age,  home,  religion,  social  intercourse,  civic  and  political 
activities,  and  so  forth. 

W.  HALL  CALVERT,  M.P. 

The  Further  Evolution  of  Man 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  vigorous  counterblast  to  the  Darwinian  theories  of  Nat- 
ural Selection  and  the  Survivial  of  the  Fittest.  The  construc- 
tive aim  of  the  volume  is  to  prove  that  social  amelioration  i« 
a  necessity  r.f  the  spiritual  evolution  now  in  process  in  our 
Western  civilization. 


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